Price of Mercy, Cost of Honor
by Jun-I
Summary: Final Chapter: In the postwar era, four samurai, victor and vanquished, mecha and human, find themselves in a similar state of mind. The reason why Kanbei never sought Shichiroji out between the war's end and S7's beginning, despite knowing where he was.
1. Retreating Battle

**Notes:**

- The kanji for Amanushi literally means "sky lord" or "heavenly master"

- OC Ayame is Kyuuzou's sensei's older student (NO romantic interest) from main fic Retribution. She also appears in Unforgiven, Wolf Warriors, Happy Endings and The Ghosts of Chrysanthemum Bridge.

- OC Machida Mahiro previously appeared in Chapter 1 of companion fic Edge of Alienation. His rank was Captain then. Shichiroji owes his current position in part to Mahiro. Machida wanted to move up so he recommended that Shichiroji (then a low-ranking orderly) replace him as Kanbei's aide.

- In this ficverse, both the Allied Forces (Kanbei's side, fighting for the shogun) and the Confederated Army (the other side, loyal to the Emperor/Amanushi) consist of soldiers 'loaned' from the various state clans. Similar practices existed in the 'real world'. According to _Secrets of the Samurai_ (Ratti/Westbrook) p42, a unified army consisting of soldiers from all clans was used in the Nara period.

- In the Retribution universe, while samurai are serving with the Allies or the Feddies, they report to the combined armies' chain of command, which takes precedence over (and theoretically should not conflict with) samurai clan loyalties. They are basically 'loaned soldiers' and will eventually return to their original samurai clan when the combined army no longer needs them. The Feddies allow people of non-samurai origin to enlist if they demonstrate the required fighting skills. Kyuuzou and Ayame were never clan samurai. They were commoners who became Feddie samurai. Thus, they were automatically ronin after the war since they had no state clan to return to. In the 'real world', the 'new' Imperial Army that challenged the shogunate during the Imperial Restoration was comprised of people of all classes, not just samurai. (_Secrets of the Samurai_, Ratti/Westbrook)

* * *

"Are we fighting another retreating battle?" Shichiroji asked Colonel Shimada as they flew towards the Sky Fortress and its accompanying fleet of enemy battleships. 

"Yes," Kanbei replied. "This will give our comrades more time to escape."

"Calling commanders of Allied Squadrons 2, 3 and 4!" Shichiroji spoke into his radio. "Pull back to Irakawa Castle and activate all anti-aircraft systems! The Colonel and Squadron 1 will cover your retreat. We will rejoin you shortly."

--

The Confederated Army's Red Spiders held their formation around the Sky Fortress as the Allied squadron of Raiden and flying cannon ships approached at alarming speed.

Perched on the shoulder of Red Spider 2421, Ayame scanned the aerial battlefield with her keen yellow eyes. Comrade 2421, whose human name was Kouichi, was now flying at full speed but the human samurai standing on it held her balance.

The sun had not fully set. The night sky still held a twinge of red, and brilliant sparks of orange and yellow showered down from the heavens. They reminded Ayame of the fireworks during the Spring Festival in Hokuhei City, when her young self stood under the night sky with her parents and cheered as the drums ushered in the new year.

The Confederated Army soldier knew that many of the samurai on this battlefield, including herself, might not live to see the next Spring Festival. Those brilliant, beautiful showers of light came from the guns of Red Spiders and Raidens, as well as the cannons of Confederated and Allied battleships. They celebrated war and death, not life and springtime. To Ayame, this magnificently lit night sky was a fair and yet terrible sight.

The samurai woman breathed in the cold night air as her Red Spider comrade flew unhesitatingly towards the enemy; the wind's chill on her face and in her lungs was a reminder that she was still alive. Ayame would like as many of her comrades as possible to celebrate the next Spring Festival. And that meant ensuring as many Allied samurai as possible would NOT get to see the next spring.

"Bear left by 23 degrees," the Confederated officer ordered Kouichi. "I'm taking off."

"Yes, ma'am" Unit 2421 replied as it veered to the left and extended its left arm.

"Units 2474 and 2490," Ayame spoke into her radio, "Standby for me in Control Level 2."

"Ryoukai!" the crisp response came back over the military radio.

Ayame timed the Red Spider's trajectory and chose the precise moment to step off the Benigumo's shoulder. She skidded smoothly down its arm into the open sky. The human officer drew her twin swords while breathing in the exhilaration of freefall. Before anyone knew it, the human had landed on the head of a Raiden eighty feet below. The enemy robot had no chance to react before Ayame had sliced through its brain. The dark samurai soared off the falling robot, landing on the prow of a double-occupancy Allied flying cannon that had the misfortune to pass by.

The Allied pilots barely had time to draw their weapons before twin blades slashed through the cockpit…

--

As the Allied aircraft fell from the sky, Ayame jumped from the doomed enemy plane into the palm of a Red Spider hovering 50 feet below. "Thank you, Yusuke," the dark-haired woman said to Unit 2490. Then she spoke into her radio. "Joji-dono, how are the Level 2 defenses holding?"

"Three units have been lost but we destroyed 5 Raiden and 2 cannon ships," came Unit 2474's reply.

"You did well! I'm here to help!" Ayame said encouragingly. Then the dark woman cried out to the Confederated soldiers around her. "Comrades! Let us reclaim the skies for our people!!!"

"Retake the skies for the Sky Lord!" The Red Spiders around the human warrior echoed her battle cry as they raised their weapons to the heavens.

At that moment, both Yusuke and Ayame caught sight of an Allied Forces aircraft breaching their defense line. The pilot was remarkably dexterous, leading their comrades on a wild goose chase by making sharp aerial turns that would have caused a normal human pilot to black out. Even more amazingly, a human samurai was standing on the wing of that enemy ship and holding his balance. The tall man with flowing long hair was holding on to a door handle on the side of the aircraft, but still, not falling out of the sky while on that roller coaster ride was no mean feat.

Then the man released his hold on the handle and skidded down the aircraft wing, vaulting into the open sky to land on a Red Spider trying to intercept the Allied craft. Before Ayame could blink thrice, the Red Spider was falling to earth in pieces. She saw the Allied officer leap onto another crimson flying mecha that promptly met the same fate.

The brown-skinned man was in his mid thirties, in the prime of life. The energy of youth might have started to wane, but what little the warrior lost in speed and agility he more than made up for in experience and dexterity.

"Intercept that man!" the dark-skinned young woman barked in Yusuke's mechanical ear. Unit 2490 promptly flew at the Allied samurai.

Then Ayame saw the Allied aircraft approach out of the corner of her eye. So focused Yusuke was on the human enemy that he did not see the shot coming. "Veer right!" Ayame shrieked but the warning came too late. Yusuke was cut off at the waist by a cannon ball. Ayame lost her footing as Unit 2490 fell away from beneath her. "Yusuke!!!" the samurai woman shouted even as she turned her fall into a midair somersault and landed on the Allied aircraft that had just destroyed her comrade.

Her lightning-fast twin blades slashed into the cockpit. It was payback time.

--

Springing from Red Spider to Red Spider, Kanbei finally made his landing on the platform of a Confederated escort ship, facing the Yakan defenders with the stoic courage of one who was ready to die. He fought his way towards the control tower of the escort ship, slaying all who stood in his path.

"How can this be? He is only one man!" the Confederated ship captain cried out with alarm as the dark-skinned Allied officer burst through the door of the control room.

The Confederated Army samurai drew their swords as they faced this lone Allied soldier who wore a scabbard with a hooked tip. Even before the first blades clashed, they knew they were going to die. But yet, they could not give up without doing their duty…

--

Kanbei stepped over the bloody corpses of his slain foes, fighting his way back out of bowels of the escort ship. Slashing through one Yakan after another, he made his way to the edge of the landing platform. Colonel Shimada scanned the sky for Shichiroji's flying cannon ship, but his trusty aide was no where in sight. Where was Shichiroji? Alarm welled up within him. More Yakans were coming towards him, firing their machine guns. Perhaps it would all end here. There were two choices open to him. He could step off the open platform into space and fall into oblivion. Or he could die fighting. The long-haired warrior turned and prepared to charge into battle once more.

At this moment of life and death, another Allied aircraft loomed up behind him. Kanbei looked into the cockpit and saw his former aide, then-Captain-now-Major Machida.

"Kanbei-sama! Get in!" Major Machida shouted as he covered Colonel Shimada's retreat by firing on the Yakans.

The commander leaped onto the wing of the friendly aircraft as the gun-wielding Yakans kept their distance. Major Machida put the cannon ship into reverse and maneuvered out of the line of fire to rejoin their retreating comrades.

Kanbei skidded down the wing towards the cockpit. "Where is Shichiroji?" he asked as he opened the hatch and jumped in beside his friend.

"I saw Captain Shichiroji's aircraft fall from the sky," Machida Mahiro said grimly, "So I came to find you."

"He was shot down?!" Shimada asked as pain seized his soul.

"No, he was not hit by gunfire." Major Machida replied. "I think an enemy samurai – a human - took his ship down."

The two men sat in suffocating silence for a while as the remnants of the squadron flew south towards Irakawa Castle. Then Mahiro spoke comfortingly. "Don't worry, Commander. He might have lived. I'm sure our ground forces are searching for survivors right now."


	2. Recovery

**Notes:**

- Kanbei is part of the combined army loyal to the shogun. (The Allied Forces) In the 'real world', there were some samurai (_baishin)_ whom their provincial daimyos delegated to the shogun for specific duties or a certain period of time. (Secrets of the Samurai, Ratti/Westbrook) Kanbei and Shichiroji's service in the Allied Forces might not be an entirely dissimilar situation.

- In this ficverse, the Feddies are a movement away from the traditional clannishness of the samurai (and ninjas) since they pool soldiers from all the clans on the same side. They apparently have a policy of mixing soldiers from different clans/regions in even the smallest unit – the squad. Some of the _kuge_ and some of the high-ranking _buke_ loyal to the emperor engineered this 'new' kind of military in part to transition away from the samurai clan's hegemony represented by the shogun's rule in the western half of the continent. They don't qualify as a 'feudal army' since high-ranking officers are not rewarded with land holdings and the accompanying serfs. Everyone is paid in cash.

-- The Allies also combine soldiers from all the clans on the same side, but smaller units tended to consist of samurai from the same clan.

- The Special Operations Division consists of Special Forces (commandos), Psychological Operations, and other non-standard army units. (Copied from US Army organization) The Special Ops soldiers are probably the most un-samurai in mentality in the entire Confederated Army. In fact, some of them aren't even samurai, as will be seen shortly.

- OC Haruko (no man's love interest) is Kyuuzou's senpai, 15 years his senior. She was originally his platoon commander before she was promoted and transferred to the Special Forces more than 2 years ago. She appears in Wolf Warriors, Happy Endings, and is mentioned in Cloud Age Samurai and Retribution.

- OC Tokuko (nobody's love interest) previously appeared in Chapter 2 of prequel fic Edge of Alienation.

- In this ficverse, a Colonel commands a regiment, a Lieutenant Colonel commands a battalion/squadron. (Copied from US Army organization – different armies organize ranks/units in other ways.)

* * *

Kanbei hurried through the hallways of the makeshift hospital on the third floor of the military compound called Irakawa Castle. Irakawa Castle was previously not a major base, but after the northwestern Allied Forces met with a string of defeats on the Northern Front, the remnants of Kanbei's Air Force squadrons had retreated to Irakawa in Totsuda Province to regroup and count their losses.

Colonel Shimada hoped their losing streak would end soon. But there was one piece of good news today. His aide survived the plane crash and had been recovered by ground troops. Shichiroji was now resting in Ward 5 of the hospital.

"Shichiroji!" the 35 year old commander exclaimed as he walked through the door into Shichiroji's room.

"Kanbei-sama!" the blond said brightly as his eyes lit up at the sight of his commanding officer.

Kanbei could not help it, but his eyes immediately came to rest on the bandaged stump where Shichiroji's left arm used to be. The aide followed the direction of his commander's eyes. Then the weak smile on his pale face faded.

"If my left arm is gone, then why do I still feel pain there?" The young soldier asked even as he turned his face away from his commander so that Kanbei could not see the tears in his eyes.

"They call it phantom pain," Kanbei answered. He did not know what else to say.

Shichiroji was still facing away from Kanbei, but the seasoned soldier could guess that his young friend was now crying.

Kanbei thought of saying, "Well, you might not be able to wield a spear, but you can still use a sword with one arm. At any rate, we can get you a prosthetic arm with enhanced capabilities. It'll be better than the old one!" But he bit his tongue. Perhaps Shichiroji did not want to be comforted. The young man needed time to grieve.

Shichiroji knew he was wallowing in self-pity but he could not help himself. He was one of those men who valued his humanity; he saw life outside of being a war machine no matter how much he had come to value his samurai status.

The commander left the room and summoned the military doctor. "How is his condition?" the tall man asked.

"Ah, Kanbei-sama," the doctor said. "Your aide is not in critical condition, which is a miracle, considering his plane crash. Other than blood loss, a few broken bones and second degree burns on his right shoulder incurred from forcing open the door of his burning plane, he is quite all right. Except for what you already know. His left arm was sliced cleanly off."

"I see," Colonel Shimada replied.

"But we will have him up and running within a week with a new prosthetic arm." The doctor stated confidently. "Would your aide like to take a look at a catalogue of the prosthetic models available?"

"Thank you for your hard work, but maybe not today," the dark man responded. "Shichiroji is still showing signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

--

But within a month, Shichiroji was smiling again. He was back at work and said no more about the loss of his arm. In fact, he would often go to the training halls to test the capabilities of his new metal arm during his off-duty hours.

"It is hard to keep good ol' Shichi down for long," Kanbei said to himself. He was grateful that the aide had regained his morale. Kanbei needed all the help he could get from his key subordinate.

After the battle in which Shichiroji lost his arm, the combined army loyal to the emperor captured most of the northern province of Juushuu. Irakawa Castle, standing near the south border of Juushuu and the north border of Totsuda, became the easternmost Allied stronghold. This border fortress had to be on constant alert, monitoring the north and the east for enemy troop movement. Thus, Kanbei and his subordinates were kept on their toes everyday.

Tosa Province to the west of Juushuu used to be another Allied stronghold, but three months after Kanbei's failed assault on the Sky Fortress, the Allied Forces lost Tosa to the Confederated Army. The Allies were defeated in an internecine sky battle in which half of the Allied Air Force's 3rd Regiment perished and over a third of the enemy regiment was destroyed. Some of the survivors of the 3rd Regiment had come south to Totsuda to join Kanbei's 2nd Regiment, while the rest of their comrades retreated west to Nakatsu to join the 1st Regiment.

After his lost battle against the Sky Fortress, Colonel Shimada's 2nd Regiment wasn't at regiment size anymore. Thus, Kanbei appreciated the reinforcements from the 3rd Regiment, although he did not appreciate the way he came into them. Still, it was a lot of work integrating the newcomers into his ranks. That work fell mostly to Shichiroji. Kanbei did not pass a day feeling grateful for the young captain's hard work.

--

_In the Feddie base of Kouri Castle, the Confederated Army War Council sat in the Taisho's private meeting chamber …_

"I say we strike now!" the golden-haired woman sitting near the end of the dark rosewood table declared. "Now that we have Tosa, we can take neighboring Akashima while our troops are still flushed with victory and morale is high. The 1st Armored Infantry Battalion is ready for this mission."

"Lieutenant Colonel Kuroyama," replied the General who sat at the head of the table, "The Allied Forces still have bases in Totsuda and Nakatsu. They will undoubtedly come to Akashima's aid. How do you propose we deal with these threats?"

"Taisho, we will neutralize both Nakatsu and Totsuda." Kuroyama Tokuko declared confidently. "Then we take Akashima. Let's mobilize all our forces for a full scale assault and overwhelm the enemy."

"That is easier said than done," a third voice spoke up. "I suggest we do not underestimate the enemy. Do not forget a third of the 14th Air Strike Regiment perished in the battle over the skies of Tosa. We lost some of the best Red Spiders of the 51st Squadron. So we won that battle, but at what cost? Can we continue to afford such losses? And if we move the bulk of our troops out and leave our home bases weakly defended, the Allies can attack our territories."

The dark-skinned, fair-haired commander eyed this dissenter scornfully, "Have you lost your courage, Colonel Yamane? Perhaps you have operated in the darkness for too long and forgotten how to fight like a samurai."

The other field commanders in the meeting room exchanged glances with raised eyebrows. Colonel Yamane of Special Operations knew a sharp rebuke to Lieutenant Colonel Kuroyama was within his right. He outranked Tokuko in the Confederated Army, but the younger commander was heir to Lady Kuroyama Takako, daimyo of Kokuryu Prefecture. Tokuko's arrogance and abrasive manner were quite well-known, even in the combined Confederated Army where clan rank and even class origins were supposed to be of lesser importance. Still, the black-skinned, green-eyed man did not respond to the other commander's jab.

"The Allies are like a wounded lion," the head of Special Operations answered calmly. "They will fight hard because they have nothing to lose. Small forces have devastated numerically superior armies before. We may have a slight numerical advantage but we do NOT have the overwhelming numbers to crush the Allies. If we launch a full scale attack against Nakatsu and Totsuda now, it will turn into a war of attrition…"

"Maybe this is _supposed to be_ a war of attrition." the Lieutenant Colonel in gray uniform said firmly. "Courage and sacrifice are what it takes to bring us the final victory. Are you willing to fight or not?" Tokuko's fierce golden eyes flashed their challenge in the evening light.

The Taisho did not wait for the Special Operations commander to respond to Kuroyama Tokuko's second insult. Instead, he addressed the balding middle-aged samurai. "Colonel Yamane, you disagree with Lt Colonel Kuroyama, but do you have an alternative plan?"

"General, I do not disagree with the basic premise of the Lieutenant Colonel's suggestion. But I have concerns about her preferred method of operation." The green-eyed samurai replied. "Commander Kuroyama is right. Akashima is the key to winning the West. We should neutralize Nakatsu and Totsuda before attacking Akashima. The question is how?"

The entire room's attention was now focused on Colonel Yamane. The black-clad commander made eye contact with everyone present, making sure he had their full attention, then he continued speaking. "I don't think the Northern forces should try to take on Nakatsu and Totsuda at the same time. We don't have the numbers. But if we focus our attack on Nakatsu, Totsuda may come to its aid, and vice versa.

"We will not have a clear numerical advantage… unless we move troops up from the south." The Taisho remarked. "And that troop movement could certainly be detected by the watchers in Totsuda."

"Oh honorable General," Colonel Yamane suggested. "Maybe we do not need to weary the southern regiments with a long march. From the north, Commander Kuroyama and Commander Oda can attack the Allied base in Nakatsu with a combined land and air strike force. Overwhelm them, as Lieutenant Colonel Kuroyama said. If we play our advantages skillfully, Nakatsu is well within our grasp. Then the southern regiments based in Hironishi and Higashihara can move into the western states unhindered."

"You forgot Irakawa Castle, the Allied base in Totsuda State," Kuroyama Tokuko said to Colonel Yamane.

"I was about to address that." The Special Operations commander responded patiently. "First, we have to consider the nature of the enemy in Irakawa Castle. These were the samurai who attacked the Sky Fortress without holding back, even knowing we had superior firepower. Our spy in Irakawa Castle tells us the castle is well-defended and the soldiers are on high alert. It will be difficult for an Aerial Assault squadron to penetrate its anti-aircraft systems."

"So a standard air strike operation might not be the correct approach." The General remarked.

Colonel Yamane continued. "The strength of Irakawa Castle is the range of its anti-aircraft artillery. The strength of the samurai in the Allied base is their desperation and their courage. Their commander Colonel Shimada Kanbei is a case in point. He personally led the assault against the Sky Fortress to cover his regiment's retreat. From the intelligence we have gathered, I have come to believe it would be most unwise to underestimate him. I suggest we avoid the sword point of the Allies – the courage and mental clarity of warriors ready to die. Surprise Shimada Kanbei, catch the Allies in Irakawa unawares so they will not have the chance to exercise their firepower or their manpower. And I believe we do not need great numbers to do that."

"And your plan for Totsuda is…" the General asked.

"My honorable Taisho," said the middle-aged Colonel. "We'll 'make a din in the west but strike in the east', as the saying goes… but before I go further into any strategy proposal, I would like to summon Major Tashiro Haruko, commander of the ninja commandos, with your permission, of course."

The General nodded. Colonel Yamane turned and spoke to the aide standing at attention behind him. The man left, and shortly later returned to the meeting room with a Special Forces samurai dressed in black. This broad-shouldered samurai who stood over 6 feet tall bowed low before the conference room full of high-ranking Confederated commanders.

"Major Tashiro Haruko of the Special Forces at your service." The pale-skinned warrior with blue-black hair said in a deep, smooth voice.

--

Six months after the fateful day Shichiroji lost his arm, Kanbei accompanied his friend to the gym.

"Look what I can do with this, Kanbei-sama!" the 25-year-old exclaimed as he shot a metal cable onto a roof beam of the training hall and swung himself over the heads of his fellow samurai, inviting "ooohs" and "aaahs" from his watching comrades.

Kanbei smiled. These moments of laughter were a welcome respite in the stress of their daily duties. But even in a time of leisure, the commander could not help contemplating graver matters.

"Now that Tosa is lost, the Confederated Army can pass through Tosa en route to Akashima and avoid coming within range of Irakawa Castle's powerful anti-aircraft systems." Kanbei surmised. For a while, the Allied Forces had received intelligence that the Confederated Army was planning an aerial assault from the north on Akashima Province in the West Sector. If the strategic state of Akashima fell, the road would be open for the enemy to conquer the rest of the western states loyal to the shogun.

Kanbei had a personal stake in Akashima's safety. It was his home state. His parents were in the Akashima Provincial Army, serving their daimyo. And the Allied commander understood that since Tosa was now under Confederated control, it was only a matter of time before the enemy turned its sword point towards Akashima.

Just as he feared, his break in the gym was cut short when Captain Sanou Hideki, his command center staffer, came looking for him. "Colonel Shimada, our radars detected a Red Spider squadron 30 minutes from Tosa's southwest border!"

"Shichiroji!" Kanbei shouted at the aide swinging from the training hall ceiling with his prosthetic arm. "Get down from there! We have work to do!"

--

_Back in Irakawa Castle command center… _

Colonel Shimada Kanbei gave his orders to Lieutenant Colonel Ogami Tamuramaro of Squadron 2. "A Red Spider squadron is 25 minutes from Tosa's southwest border. Scramble Squadron 2 Raidens to intercept them!"

"Yes sir!" the sub-commandant replied. "My Raidens are already on standby for battle! I'll give them the order to scramble immediately."

Minutes later, the Raidens of Squadron 2 were launching into the skies above Irakawa Castle.

"Takeo moving out!"

"Shuichi moving out!"

"Akanemaru moving out!"

"Reijiro moving out!"

Over the command center's communications system, Kanbei heard the disciplined, committed voices of these giant mecha samurai under his command. He placed his confidence in their competence. They held the hope for the Allied Provinces.

* * *

**Author's Comments:**

- The sky battle in which half of the Allied Regiment perished is the one in which Gorobei was fighting and Mizuho was killed (Happy Endings Chapter 2). Gorobei was in the 3rd Regiment and presumably went west to join the 1st Regiment since he never knew Kanbei before S7. So far, we've seen two of Kyuuzou's 'sisters' play a role in the defeat of Kanbei's side. The 51st Squadron Colonel Yamane mentioned was Mizuho's squadron.


	3. A Soldier's Scruples

**Warnings: **Violence, OC death, AU version of Heihachi's betrayal.

**Vocab:  
**_kunoichi_ – female ninja  
_ryoukai_ – understood

**Notes:**

- From Heihachi's perspective, the OC Haruko is a man since she looks like a man and sounds like a man.

- None of the female characters are any man's love interest.

- As for ninjas using firearms, the sniper entry on wikipedia mentions it, as does the print book Secrets of the Samurai. The impression I get from Ratti/Westbrook's book is that samurai don't seem to have much of a 'romantic' or 'honorable' attachment to swords over guns. Firearms were part of a samurai's arsenal since feudal times.

- The female operatives in the ninja commando unit, including their samurai commander Tashiro Haruko, use masculine names in the course of their work. E.g. Haruko is called Haruhiko (though the ninja commandos usually call her 'Commander', or 'Major') and Yaeko is called Yaegiri. (Inspired by Yotoden, in which the kunoichi Ayame calls herself Ayanosuke when she's working.)

**Minor Ocs:**

Takeo – one of Kanbei's Raiden subordinates in the Allied Air Force.

Tashiro Haruko – Kyuuzou's senpai (Sensei's senior student) and his former platoon commander in the Confederated Army. Now a Special Forces commander leading ninja commandos. Same age as Kanbei. 15 years older than Kyuuzou.

Yaeko – female commando/kunoichi. Haruko's aide.

Kouta – ninja captain. Confederated Army.

Kiseki – ninja commando/hacker. Kouta's subordinate.

Rannosuke – Red Spider from a Confederated Army Aerial Assault unit. Appeared as a human in prequel fic _Edge of Alienation_.

* * *

Under a cloudless blue sky, Allied Air Force Squadron 2 approached the Tosa border at full speed. Just as expected, the enemy's Red Spider squadron came into view. The Raidens and Red Spiders launched into a full scale sky battle.

Takeo and his Raiden comrades noted to their frustration that the Red Spiders had some new tactics. Whenever a Raiden approached the rear of a Red Spider, the intended target would start a weave maneuver with a buddy Red Spider, turning away from each other and then weaving back in. Thus, the Red Spiders covered each other's tails and eliminated the Raidens' advantage in speed and maneuverability while opening the Raidens to the Benigumos' superior firepower.

After a few fruitless dogfights, Takeo noticed one Red Spider who did not have a buddy. An unpaired unit. This should be an easier target. He headed for this lone enemy mecha. The Benigumo apparently noticed his unwelcome attention and made an evasive maneuver, flying eastward towards the nearby Mount Shoukei.

Takeo followed the Red Spider as it flew around the mountainside. As the Raiden maneuvered the turn, he was hit by a high-voltage stun gun. Takeo barely had time to think "What's going on?" before he fell unconscious from the sky, right into the arms of the waiting Red Spider.

--

The Red Spider Rannosuke, with his quarry in tow, flew straight to a small mobile Confederated base hidden behind the giant pine trees growing in the shadow of Shoukei Mountain.

"I got one!" the mecha samurai declared triumphantly as he touched down on the landing pad of the commandos' mobile base.

"Excellent!" The Red Spider heard Major Tashiro Haruko's voice over his radio. The ninjas were already waiting in position when Rannosuke dragged the incapacitated Raiden into the hangar and dumped it before the tall human samurai in black uniform.

"Tech Team, remove the Raiden's brain but keep it oxygenated. Then switch on the shell's autopilot unit and connect it to our computer!" Major Tashiro ordered briskly.

Emerging from the dark recesses of the hangar, a ninja team of ten sprung into action. Within two minutes, Takeo's CPU, which contained all that was left of his humanity, had been removed from his Raiden body and plugged into a small life-support system. The team's computer hacker Kiseki promptly took his place at the default control unit inside the Raiden's head. This contained the autopilot and remote control programs used to direct the operations of soulless mecha.

"It's not working!" the shinobi hacker called down to the samurai commander after a few moments. "The unit rejected the factory password that should unlock all Raidens' control units! And I can't find a backdoor into the system. They must have installed a new operating system with bug fixes for the old security holes!"

"Damnation!" A ninja aide standing next to the tall samurai spoke, "The Allied Forces may have realized the master password used on the factory floor has been leaked and changed their password. This Raiden must be a more recent product that uses the new password."

Major Tashiro was more than a little displeased. Their carefully thought-out plan now lay in ruins unless they could find the new factory password. Fast. The samurai turned to her ninja aide Yaeko, "Yaegiri, those two Allied mechanics that our forces captured …"

"Yes, Major," the shinobi woman replied. "I thought they might be useful so they're with us on base. Do you want them questioned?

The tall samurai with blue-black hair nodded. Then she addressed the ninja sub-commandant who was standing over Kiseki with a worried look on his face. "Captain Kouta," the mannish woman said, "You and Lieutenant Yaegiri look into this right away. Take two more agents with you and question the prisoners separately. You have 8 minutes to work. Report your progress within 4 minutes."

The two black-clad shinobi bowed to the samurai officer. Yaeko spun on her heel briskly and left the hangar, followed by Kouta and two other ninjas.

A few minutes later, Haruko heard Yaeko's voice over her personal radio. "Commander, this is Yaegiri! They're not talking. Shall we call in a torture, I mean, interrogation expert from the Military Police? How about Major Motofuji of the Viper Brigade?"

"It'll take too much time to bring in someone from the Viper Brigade." Haruko said grimly. "The enemy is going to get suspicious if their comrade suddenly reappears after being MIA for too long. I'll be there with you right away!"

--

Hayashida Heihachi never dreamt that one day he would become a spoil of war. After all, being a mechanic meant staying out of the way of danger, right? But when the Allied Forces lost ground on the northwestern front and the Confederated soldiers overran his base, he did not have time to flee. A number of mechanics were taken captive. The Confederated Army had Heihachi shunted from one jail cell to another over the past few months. He did not even know where he was because he had been blindfolded every time they moved him. What did the enemy want with him? Why were they keeping him alive?

The light in Heihachi's cell was out most of the time. He guessed the Feddies were trying to conserve energy, and brightening the environments of prisoners-of-war was a low priority.

The only comfort he had in this nightmare was that his comrade and friend Masamochi had been taken captive with him. His fellow mechanic was in the cell next to his. Sometimes, when there were no guards in the hallway, Kouyama Masamochi would talk to Heihachi through the hollow metal wall. "My family must be worried – I've been sending them money every month to help pay for my sister's wedding. Now that I'm stuck here, I can't send them anything…"

Each time, the young Hayashida would search his brains something cheerful to say in response, but he could never think of anything with which to lift his friend's mood. Yet, the small mechanic found Masamochi's anxious ramblings strangely reassuring. The sound of a friend's voice was like a light in the lonely darkness of his small cold cell. It did not matter what the friend was talking about.

Little did he know that their nightmare was about to get worse. Heihachi heard footsteps echoing down the hallway outside his cell. He heard the door to Masamochi's cell open. He heard people walking into his friend's cell. Then the door to his own cell opened.

For a moment, Heihachi squinted against the light streaming in from the hallway. But the door to his unlit cell closed before he could adjust to the brightness. He opened his eyes and saw that two ninjas, a man and a woman, stood before him.

"Tell us the master password for the Raiden model mechas," the female ninja ordered the captive mechanic.

"I don't know it," Heihachi lied. Giving him an unbelieving stare, the kunoichi struck him in the face. Any Allied Forces technician who serviced Raidens had to know the master password.

The black-clad enemy soldiers alternately threatened and cajoled. Still, Heihachi remained silent. The ninja woman slapped Heihachi and pulled his hair. He felt tears sting his eyes. Still, the small redhead refused to answer. Ninjas were capable of far worse, he knew. But the Confederated Army had rules on the treatment of POWs just like any army should. The shinobi and some samurai found these rules most inconvenient though. They would break the rules as far as they could without being caught. And that meant that interrogation techniques should leave no blood or broken bones.

Finally the kunoichi left the cell and shut the door, leaving her ninja comrade to watch over him in the gloomy room. Heihachi heard her speaking outside with a man, probably one of the shinobi who had been questioning Masamochi in the neighboring cell.

Seemingly interminable moments passed. Much as Heihachi wanted to know what was happening around him, the squatting captive kept his eyes on the smooth hard floor. The redheaded boy did not want to make eye contact with the ninja captor watching him, in case he invited more blows. Then he heard the door of his cell open, followed by footsteps. The light turned on.

In surprise, Heihachi looked up at the white fluorescent bulb shining from the ceiling but unused to the light, he had to avert his gaze almost immediately. Turning his eyes leftward, he saw Masamochi being dragged into the room by two ninjas. The shinobi forced the Allied POW to his knees before Heihachi.

Staring into the haggard face of his friend, the young samurai wanted to ask, "Are you well?" But he was too frightened to speak.

Masamochi looked back at him with an expression that was a mix of weariness and despair, and then he shook his head, as if to say to Heihachi, "Don't tell them anything."

"So, will you not tell us the password?" Heihachi heard a new voice speak. "My shinobi have already asked you very nicely." This low, deep voice was almost charming if not for its threatening undertone.

The short samurai raised his head timidly to look at the owner of the voice. Under the harsh white light stood a tall, dark-haired officer dressed in a high-collared black uniform and high black boots. This man was not a shinobi. He was a samurai carrying double katana. The female ninja who had been questioning him earlier was now standing next to this handsome broad-shouldered samurai.

The pale-skinned samurai officer spoke once more in his deep smooth voice. "Tell us the factory password. We only wish to have a look inside a Raiden we found so we can make some repairs."

Both Allied soldiers did not speak. The room was so silent Heihachi could hear his own uneven breathing.

--

Major Tashiro eyed the two enemy mechanics kneeling before her. They showed some evidence of having been subjected to kicking, slapping, and hair-pulling. But there were no blood and broken bones, and thus no accusations of 'abuse' could be proven against their interrogators.

One of the POWs was a skinny, sallow man in his late twenties. This Allied soldier wore an expression that was a mix of despair and resolution, as if he was expecting torture and death with weary resignation. The other samurai prisoner was a short redhead. This one was little more than a child. He clearly looked terrified.

But, even if they were afraid, the prisoners-of-war remained silent.

"This boy cannot be older than Kyuuzou," Haruko thought with a twinge of pity as she rested her obsidian eyes on the visibly trembling Heihachi. But pity or no pity, what must be done still had to be done. Between the two captive samurai, the younger one would probably be easier to crack.

"Better to kill one person now than let ten thousand people die later," Haruko decided. The samurai knew too well she would be violating the warrior code but she remembered the tears of the mikumari Aiko, the death of the peasant fighter Mai, and the anguish of Mizuho. She recalled Kuroki Village and Hanatani Village; she saw once more the corpses of peasants and townsfolk, innocent non-combatants who had fallen under the swords of countless samurai who had already violated the warrior code. There was one thing she was sure of – the world would be a better place if this Great War ended. Then maybe Aiko would weep no more. Maybe no more people would have to die like Mai. Then maybe no more women would feel compelled to make Mizuho's choice. And perhaps peasants would not have to suffer like they did before. If it took the lives of a few samurai, including herself, to buy this new reality, then maybe the stain on her soul would be worth it.

"Give me your pistol," The samurai commander said to the kunoichi officer standing beside her.

--

Heihachi heard those cold words, "Give me your pistol." But somehow he had not been ready for what happened next. In later years, he would still wonder, "How could I have been so naïve? How could I not have seen it coming? If only I had time to think! Then I would have stood firm!"

There was a deafening bang. Before the samurai boy realized it, the brains of the man who had been telling Heihachi he was saving money to help pay for his sister's wedding were now splattered across the young mechanic's chest.

Heihachi stared down at the bits of white matter spilled across his uniform. His first thought was, "I will never eat sheep's brain soup again!" Every time he recalled this horrific vision, he would still wonder with shame why that was the first thought that entered his mind, instead of sorrow for Masamochi, whom he had always liked.

"The password!" The enemy samurai was now yelling. The smooth melodious tone he was using earlier had been replaced by a harsh voice.

Heihachi felt the cold muzzle of the pistol against his temple. He thought he was going to be sick as he saw his whole life flash before his eyes.

"Give me a reason to spare your life!" The enemy officer shouted once more, this time with less patience.

"Tsu… tsureguregusa," the Allied Forces mechanic stammered. The moment those words left his lips, he felt his spirit die within him.

"Repeat it slowly," the cold voice spoke again.

"Tsu-re-gu-re-gu-sa." The mechanic choked as tears filled his eyes.

"If it doesn't work, you're a dead man." The tall samurai stated matter-of-factly.

--

Kouta started when the gun went off. But Yaeko did not even bat an eyelid. They heard the boy speak the sought-after word.

"Kiseki! Do you read me!" The kunoichi spoke into her transmitter without wasting a second. "The password is tsureguregusa. Tsureguregusa!"

"Ryokai!" the ninja hacker's voice came back over Yaeko's transmitter. "It worked! We'll be ready for take off in three minutes!"

"Well," the tall pale-skinned samurai looked down at the Allied soldier now clutching his stomach and retching next to the prostrate form of his fellow mechanic. "Thank you for your cooperation. You have nothing more to fear. You have bought your life."

Heihachi wept. He had bought his life by selling his comrades and betraying his own soul.

--

As Major Tashiro headed towards the door of the cell, leaving behind a samurai boy kneeling in his own vomit and weeping over the body of a dead POW, she caught Kouta's questioning eye.

"I alone will bear the guilt for my actions. None of you will be held accountable." Haruko smirked. "We'll end this war first, and they can court-martial me later!"

Then an unbidden, unwelcome thought entered the commander's mind. "What if the enemy did to one of us what I just did to that Allied Forces samurai? How would I feel? Would I complain of injustice? Would I deal out punishment to the perpetrator? Do I even have the right to do so?"

Perhaps the Allied Forces mechanic was not the only soldier who sold his soul today.

But the Confederated Army samurai's firm step did not betray her doubts. The mannish woman who stood over six feet tall strode on calmly. Without missing a beat, Yaeko and the other ninjas fell into step behind the major as they headed back towards the hangar.

* * *

**Author's Comments:**

- The Red Spiders' weave maneuver is inspired by US pilots' weave tactic (called the Thatch weave after the commander who implemented its use) used in the Pacific Theater against the smaller, more agile Japanese fighter planes.

- Haruko's choice was inspired by Samuel L. Jackson's character in Rules of Engagement, though Major Tashiro's offense here is even more controversial.

Haruko's line, "Better to kill one person now than let ten thousand people die later" is inspired by Shouryuu's line from the Twelve Kingdoms anime. He was of the opinion it was better to let a few hundred people die in a small battle than to let tens of thousands of people die in a big war later. Shouryuu, like Haruko, is in some ways a very un-samurai samurai. Another point of similarity - both seem to be popular with the ladies, including the ladies of the pleasure quarter ;-). But I wrote Haruko's character before I met Shouryuu. ;-)

The Major Motofuji mentioned briefly in this chapter is Motofuji Mayumi, cousin of Lt. Col. Kuroyama Tokuko.

I'm raising an ethics question for which I have no answer. Obviously, Major Tashiro was 'wrong' to commit murder. But the other choice – letting the mission 'fail' - isn't necessarily 'right' either. I'm not sure if the social and legal culture of Samurai 7 is intended to reflect that of medieval East Asia (there is no strong evidence either way, since S7 is a fantasy scifi or steampunk story) But assuming the samurai follow the warrior code of medieval East Asia, the penalty for "missing a deadline" in the war game is death.

Clearly Haruko is not afraid to die since she is prepared to face the consequences for murder. But the question is, what happens to those you leave behind? In the past, there were instances in which not only does the failed commander lose his head, the members of his household are 'confiscated' by the authorities and put under bondage, assigned to a life of servitude and even prostitution. (A not uncommon fate for the families of criminals) Haruko doesn't appear to have dependents, but what if Kouta, her second-in-command, does? Would they be doomed to a life of prostitution if Haruko and Kouta failed in their mission? If Haruko is going to die, she might as well die as a 'winning' commander. If she is victorious, her 'offense' might not be held against Kouta.


	4. Shinobi

**Notes:**

- Tomoko is addressed by the masculine name of Tomohiro by her colleagues, just as Haruko goes by the male alias Haruhiko and Yaeko is Yaegiri.

- the relationship between the federal military (the Allied Forces) and the provincial military (the samurai clan) is explained in earlier chapters and an article on my profile page.

- ninjas are also called _kage nin_ (shadow people) or _shinobi _(spy/spies).

**Vocab: **

_anki_ – hidden weapon

* * *

In the recesses of the hangar of the Confederated Army Special Forces' mobile base, a black-clad company of shadow people sat in quiet anticipation. The ninjas watched silently as two of their comrades manipulated the enemy robot. Ninja hacker Kiseki was still inside the Raiden's head, inputting commands into its autopilot system.

A hundred feet away from the captured Raiden, a female ninja wearing an eye patch over her left eye was sitting cross-legged on the floor near the hangar's door. "Testing, testing!" The kunoichi Tomoko spoke into her laptop computer's microphone. Almost simultaneously, the previously inert Raiden responded, "Testing, testing!" in its own voice. The voice of Takeo.

"So far so good, Tomohiro-dono!" Ninja hacker Kiseki stepped away from the Raiden's head and jumped to the ground, landing as lightly as a cat. He called out to his comrade Tomoko. "Now move its limbs."

The kunoichi complied. The Raiden got to its feet.

"Turn on flight boosters, but not to full power!" Kiseki instructed. After the kunoichi punched a few keystrokes on the computer keyboard, the team of watching ninjas heard the hum of the Raiden's flight boosters.

"Now, how do you feel about flying this thing remotely?" Kiseki grinned as he walked over to the female commando.

The kunoichi raised her eyebrows as she replied. "I thought that is YOUR job, Kiseki-dono. You already set its autopilot path to Irakawa Castle's coordinates, DIDN'T you?!!!"

The kunoichi Tomoko's voice was raised just a little. Both ninja techies were feeling more than a little pressure in this high stakes operation. "Yes, I did!" Kiseki replied, peering over Tomoko's shoulder at the laptop screen. "But as for the finer details of motion, like responding to landing instructions from the Irakawa Castle's flight controllers, you'll have to direct it. I'll help you with system shortcuts whenever I can. But you're the driver."

"Working with low tech weapons is so much easier. Give me a shuriken and a sword anytime." The one-eyed kunoichi remarked.

The ninja man could understand his colleague's mixed feelings about fighting a war remotely. Tomohiro-dono could more than hold her own in open battle, but in an infiltration operation like this one, good peripheral vision was key to a field operative's safety and success. And Tomoko's peripheral vision was somewhat limited. Still, her situation was of her own choosing. The kunoichi had stubbornly refused to have a mechanical eye installed after the battle in which she lost her left eye.

"If we screw up, everyone is going to die." Tomoko said in a whisper so that their watching comrades at the back of the hangar could not hear her.

"Don't talk like that," Kiseki replied in as upbeat a voice as he could muster, although he too was feeling the battle stress. "You did a really great job remotely piloting both Raidens and Red Spiders in the simulation chamber."

"This is the real thing." The one-eyed ninja answered grimly. "And the virtual Raiden training program isn't very good because it was pieced together from random bits of technical specs we managed steal from the Allied Forces."

"You'll pull us through." Kiseki said encouragingly. "This is going to be a brilliant victory. They won't see us coming till we strike!"

At that moment, their commander and four colleagues re-entered the hangar. Tomoko called out her report to Major Tashiro Haruko.

"Our computer has complete control over the Raiden's speech, aural and mechanical functions. We are able to direct its operations remotely."

"Great job, guys!" Haruko addressed Kiseki and Tomoko briskly. "Now let's load the thing."

Tomoko remotely sat the Raiden back down on the floor, then she popped the hatch for its cargo compartment. As the huge door on the Raiden's back lifted, Major Tashiro Haruko barked at her waiting ninja team. "Everybody in!"

Captain Kouta wasted no time in jumping into the giant mecha. Then one black-clad shinobi after another emerged from the dark recesses of the hangar and leapt nimbly into the back compartment of the Raiden who was once an Allied Forces samurai named Takeo. Haruko spoke to Tomoko and Kiseki once more.

"Kiseki-dono and Tomohiro-dono, our lives are in your hands." The Confederated Army Special Forces commander bowed slightly. Then the tall mannish samurai turned and followed after her shinobi soldiers, leaping into the Raiden's cargo compartment right after the last ninja Yaeko had jumped in.

Tomoko hit the computer keys that closed the Raiden's hatch. Then, with Kiseki looking over her shoulder, she turned the flight boosters to full power.

--

_In the Irakawa Castle command center…_

Colonel Shimada Kanbei heard his subordinate's status over the radio, "This is Lieutenant Colonel Ogami Tamuramaro reporting to Commander! The Red Spiders have been repelled. Squadron 2 returning to base! We downed five enemy units but their comrades retrieved them and are retreating north. Shuichi was shot down but we retrieved him. Takeo is missing-in-action."

"Thank you for your hard work!" Kanbei answered. Shichiroji and his two command center colleagues Shinji and Hideki exchanged looks of relief. Shichiroji spoke into the radio, "Tamuramaro-dono, send Shuichi-dono to Hangar 6 for repairs. Mechanics are on standby."

"Ryokai!" came the crisp response.

"Tamuramaro-dono says the Feddies are retreating north, eh?" Kanbei pondered. "I guess we successfully held off the aerial assault force on its way to attack Akashima Province, at least for a while. But they will try again. The question is when?"

"I wonder what happened to Takeo," Captain Shichiroji remarked. "I hope he is all right."

At that moment, his colleague Lieutenant Shinji, who had been monitoring the voice reports coming in from Irakawa Castle's air traffic control tower, spoke.

"Kanbei-sama, air traffic control reports a Raiden flying towards us, two miles behind the main force. It appears to be a little wobbly. I would guess that is Takeo."

Shichiroji took a look at the video feed from the castle's air traffic control tower's camera. As the straggling mecha came closer, Shichiroji said, "It's Takeo all right, by the unit number. He must be injured to be flying so slowly and unsteadily."

The aide turned to his colleague, "Shinji-dono, tell air traffic control to direct Takeo to Hangar 4. Have mechanics on standby for repairs."

"Yes, Shichiroji-dono," Shinji responded as he picked up the telephone.

--

_Inside the back compartment of the Raiden who was once an Allied Forces samurai named Takeo… _

A company of ninjas stood shoulder to shoulder, back to back, with hardly any room between their bodies. In fact, there was hardly any room to breath in the cargo hold, and hardly enough air for the entire company. But these were shinobi, not common soldiers. Almost all of them had entered a meditative state to lower their metabolism so that they would consume less oxygen. All were in near-hibernation mode, except one.

"Are we there yet?" The youngest ninja Omitsu was asking for the third time. "The way Tomohiro-dono pilots this thing remotely is making me airsick."

"_Are we there yet?!!!_" Lieutenant Yaeko hissed. "You sound like a petulant child! Do you think we're your parents and this is an iron-ox carriage? You're a Confederated Army commando, for crying out loud!"

Meeting the glare of the elder ninja, the youngest shinobi fell silent.

Nobody was very comfortable in the cramped, un-cushioned quarters of the Raiden's cargo compartment. Captain Kouta was trying to adjust his position so that the blowpipe carried by the ninja in front of him wasn't hitting him in the face. But that was the least of his worries. The success of this risky infiltration operation was foremost on his mind. If Tomoko did not crash the Raiden and kill them all, that would be something to thank Heaven for. And even if they landed safely in the Allied Air Force base, there was the question of how much resistance they would encounter. Their plan was to avoid enemy resistance as far as possible by misdirecting the Allied samurai. Their spy within the castle would also do her part in eliminating some of the possible resistance.

--

_29 minutes later, in the Irakawa Castle command center…_

Shinji received another voice report from the Mecha Support Department, which he promptly conveyed to his colleagues. "Hangar 4 staff reports that Takeo has returned and docked safely. They can't get a comprehensible sentence out of him because his speech is slurred. He said something about 'Enemy battleship behind…' and then he became unresponsive. They're trying to revive him right now. I think you might want to look into this."

Kanbei and Shichiroji exchanged grave looks. Did Takeo see something unusual while he was flying over the skies of Tosa? Was the Confederated Army sending a flying battleship to attack Irakawa Castle? The range of the Allied base's anti-aircraft weapons far exceeded the range of a Red Spider's cannons, but a Confederated battleship was another matter. It would be in their interests to know what model of battleship was approaching them, and how far away it was.

"Shichiroji, go to Hangar 4 and debrief Takeo!" Kanbei ordered. "We can't afford to waste any time! Let's hope the mechanics have revived Takeo by the time you get there."

"Yes, sir!" the blond replied as he rose from his seat.

To his other two subordinates, Kanbei said, "Activate all anti-aircraft systems. Monitor all radars. Tell everyone to be on full alert for a possible attack from the sky!"

"Yes, sir!" Hideki and Shinji answered snappily. Captain Sanou Hideki spoke into the intercom. "All hands to stations! Be on full alert for possible air raid! Squadron Commanders, prepare Raidens for scramble!"

The Allied soldiers in Irakawa Castle rushed to comply, focusing their attention on the foreboding sky.

Lieutenant Sugimoto Shinji turned to Kanbei after punching in a series of keys at the defense systems control panel. "Commander, I've switched all laser cannons to auto-fire mode. Any unidentified craft detected by radar will be targeted."

"Good!" Colonel Shimada said crisply. Depending on the model of the enemy battleship, a laser cannon might not be able to down it in one shot or even a few shots. But there was nothing he could do now except wait for Shichiroji and Takeo's report.

--

After receiving the alert from the command center about a possible air raid, Major Machida Mahiro headed towards Hangar 1, where Squadron 1's Raidens were housed. The officer, with two young samurai behind him, was racing down the hallway when he ran into the janitor Suzu. The woman with thinning hair was mopping the floor right outside the hangar's entrance.

Usually Major Machida would have a friendly greeting for the middle-aged servant whose warm manner caused many of the younger samurai to see her as an aunty. But the officer was not in the mood for chitchat today. He needed to brief Squadron 1's Raidens for an imminent assault by the enemy. So the samurai said sharply to the mousy lady. "This is NOT the time for cleaning! We need the hallways clear of all non-essential personnel! Now!"

The janitor bowed apologetically, but before she straightened her back, Major Machida had fallen to the ground – felled by a shuriken in his throat. His two followers barely detected the quick flick of Suzu's wrist before they too were downed – one with a throwing star in his neck and the other with another anki in his forehead.

The unremarkable-looking woman quickly went over to the corpse of Mahiro. Without delay, she picked up his sword and his cardkey. "My comrades should be coming out of hiding any second," the Confederated undercover operative thought. "I have to do my best to clear the coast for them. If any part of our team falters, our entire operation may fail. But not if I can help it. We've worked too long for this."

The ninja-disguised-as-janitor swiped the cardkey against the key reader for Hangar 1 and entered silently. Within seconds, the sound of sword slicing metal and the screams of giant mecha were heard within.


	5. Wolf in the Castle

**Warning:** violence.

**Vocab:** _anki_ – hidden weapon(s), _bushi_ - warrior

**Notes:**

- Kyuuzou, at this point, had long been transferred to a different battalion (42nd), so his senpai Ayame (of the 43rd) isn't his commanding officer anymore.

- For the map of the world of Retribution, see my profile page.

- the Aokuma Clan is the samurai clan that rules Akashima Province (Kanbei's home state). The Akashima Provincial Army/Military Government is a subset of the Aokuma Clan (obviously, young children who belong to the clan are not in the provincial army). Kanbei was part of the Aokuma Clan's troop contribution to the Allied Forces.

- Kyuuzou's battalion is the Confederated Army 42nd Light Infantry Battalion, based in Hironishi. Colonel Yamane of the Confederated Army Special Operations mentions the Hironishi regiment as part of his strategy in Chapter 2: If the northern Allied Forces regiments are incapacitated, "then the southern regiments based in Hironishi and Higashihara can move into the western states unhindered." (A battalion is part of a regiment.)

* * *

Shortly after Shichiroji left the command center, his colleague Hideki picked up a call from Akashima Province. 

"Kanbei-sama!" Allied soldier Hideki turned towards his commander, "We have a distress call coming in from the Aokuma Clan!"

"Put it through immediately!" Colonel Shimada ordered. "Turn the phone to speaker mode."

Captain Hideki complied.

"Reiji Castle calling Irakawa Castle!" a woman's desperate voice spoke through the speaker phone. "This Captain Shimada Satomi, aide to Commander Shimada Seibei of the Akashima Provincial Army! Confederated Army infantry breached Akashima's borders from the south! Reiji Castle has fallen! Do you read me?!!"

"Mother?!!" Kanbei cried out. "Where is Father? What is happening?" The intelligence he received told him the Confederated Army was planning an aerial assault on Akashima from the northeast! Colonel Shimada was not expecting a ground assault from the south! But maybe the Allied Forces had been deceived with false intelligence.

"Is that you, my son?" the old woman's voice came over the speaker phone once more. She spoke with the tone of one who knew she did not have much time left. "Kanbei, Akashima has fallen, but the rest of the West can still be saved if someone stops the Confederated Army's westward march! Do not think of your father and me now! Just come to Akashima to stop the enemy!"

"Okaa-sama, where is Otou-sama?" Kanbei asked urgently. There was no answer, only the sound of clashing blades transmitted over the phone line, followed by the shriek of an old woman. Then silence.

"Mother? Kaa-sama!!!" the commander shouted as the damning realization sank in. The other two samurai in the Irakawa Castle command center looked at each other with horrified eyes.

--

_Moments earlier, in Reiji Castle, Fortress of the Military Governor of Akashima Province…_

Kyuuzou's commanding officer was yelling, "Terminate them!" Obediently, the young Confederated Army soldier raced down the hallways of Reiji Castle in pursuit of the two enemy samurai – a high-ranking retainer of the Aokuma Clan and his aide.

Corporal Kyuuzou of the 42nd Battalion from Hironishi was the swiftest and most skilled in his entire company. His commander always used him to eliminate the enemy commander while his comrades engaged the enemy rank-and-file troops as a distraction.

As the slender swordsman chased down the Akashima Provincial Army commander in blue uniform, the young samurai was aware of his own commander and platoon mates behind him, holding off the enemy samurai's subordinates.

The Aokuma Clan retainer, an old man, stopped running and spun around to face the skinny young samurai. Kyuuzou saw the enemy aide - an old woman – run ahead of her commander and enter a room near the end of the hallway, presumably the castle's communication's center.

Two samurai, one young, one old, one in a gray uniform, one in blue, faced off in the narrow hallway.

Kyuuzou was reluctant when it came to battling old people. Sensei always told him to respect his elders. But this was war, and now this brown-skinned samurai who looked like someone's grandfather was trying to kill him! What choice did he have?

Kyuuzou's left sword Karou struck down the old man. Before his foe's body hit the ground, the young Feddie soldier had moved on to the next target. He dashed into the room that the second enemy samurai had just entered. Kyuuzou guessed right. It was the castle's communications center. The old woman was talking into the speaker phone at the control panel.

"I hate fighting senior citizens," Kyuuzou thought. But he could not afford to let the enemy aide speak further. And he did not have much of a choice about fighting anyway, for now this samurai who looked like somebody's grandmother had drawn her sword and was charging at him. The dark woman was not a poor fighter at all, but still, she was old, and he was young and agile.

Kyuuzou dodged her strikes. His right sword Suirou cut her down swiftly.

"I hope they felt little pain," the 20-year-old thought as he gazed at the two corpses of the elderly samurai, one fallen at the door of the communications chamber and the other near the control panel.

That was when he heard a man's anguished voice coming from the speaker phone. "Mother?!! Mother!!!"

The pale young man shuddered at the memory of a tow-headed peasant boy kneeling over the bloody corpse of a dark woman, screaming, "Mother! Mother!" ten years ago.

Quickly, he hit the "OFF" button on the phone as he switched off his memories.

--

_Back in the Allied base of Irakawa Castle…_

"Colonel to all Squadron Commanders! Call in to the Command Center immediately!" Kanbei spoke calmly into the intercom even as he tried to will his trembling hands to still.

The colonel waited for his sub-commanders' crisp responses to come in over the intercom, but all that greeted him was a dead silence. "Is the intercom working?" command center staffer Lieutenant Shinji wondered out loud.

"Radio the Raiden commander for Squadron 2," Kanbei said urgently. All the mecha had radios installed inside them. If the intercom was not working, they could always fall back on the military radio. Shinji spoke into the radio. "Command Center to Tamuramaro-dono, come in!"

There was no response.

Then his comrade Hideki chanced to glance at the castle's internal monitoring system. He cried out, "The security cameras for Hangar 4 and Hangar 1 are not transmitting!"

Shinji turned pale. So focused they were on monitoring the radar screen for enemies from the sky that no one was really paying attention to the castle's internal security cameras. Until now. Shinji went over to Hideki's station. Then he exclaimed, "The 1st floor cameras are out too!"

Kanbei turned towards the monitor screens and watched in alarm as one by one, the security cameras for other castle levels failed. Sometimes he thought he could detect a flash of black in those last images transmitted before each screen went dark. Now Kanbei knew something was definitely wrong.

"Enemy shinobi!" the thought came to his mind. "How did they get in? And why now?!!! Why now, at this very moment we need all systems working to mobilize our troops to go to the aid of Akashima?"

Colonel Shimada had an ominous feeling. He could almost sense Death beyond the safety of the reinforced metal doors insulating the command center from the rest of the castle.

"Call the First Regiment in Nakatsu and tell them to be on alert for shinobi." Kanbei said grimly to his two subordinates as he strode towards the command center exit. "I'm going to check on the status of the rest of the samurai on base. Do NOT leave this room until I return. And do NOT open the door under any circumstances, not even if myself or Shichiroji ask you to do so. Anyone who should be entering the room must use his own PIN."

The dark-haired samurai cautiously opened the doors and stepped out. Shinji and Hideki gave each other anxious looks as the heavy metal doors closed behind the tall figure of their commander. Then Captain Sanou Hideki promptly picked up the phone and dialed the external access code.

"Irakawa Castle to Atsuya Castle Command Center, do you read me?" Hideki called the Allied Air Force base in Nakatsu Province.

"Yes, this is Major Izumi of Allied Air Force First Regiment," came the crisp reply over the phone line but Hideki thought he could detect a level of distress in the man's voice.

"This is Captain Sanou of the Second Regiment. Colonel Shimada wishes to warn Colonel Fujita to be on alert for a possible Confederated Army shinobi attack on Allied bases," Hideki said.

"Er… ninjas are the least of our worries right now," the other Allied Forces samurai replied. "Currently, we're fending off a combined land and air assault on Nakatsu's east..."

The man did not get to finish his sentence before the line went dead.

"Major Izumi?" Captain Sanou Hideki asked in a worried voice. "Are you still on the line? Can you hear me?"

The only answer was an eerie silence. Hideki and Shinji stared at each other. The question was which end of the communications system failed. Irakawa Castle's or Atsuya Castle's.

Captain Sanou reset the phone. There was no dial tone.

The samurai officer blanched. Someone had just jammed their radio frequencies, disabled their cameras and cut their phone lines.

--

Kanbei quickly made his way from the command center down to the castle's fourth floor where the repair hangars were located. The commander was hoping to catch up with Shichiroji who had gone to Hangar 4. The fourth floor hallways were deserted. All the soldiers had already gone to their battle stations on the lower floors and the top level of the castle.

Then Colonel Shimada sensed someone coming down the hall. But he did not hear footsteps. "This is a _bushi_ of no ordinary skill, if it is even a _bushi_ at all…" Kanbei thought. as he hid himself behind a pillar. As the Colonel peered out from his hiding place, he was surprised to see Suzu, one of the janitors, holding a bloody, greasy sword in her hand as she sprinted down the hallway. In her other hand the middle-aged woman held a cardkey.

That was when Colonel Shimada realized that things had been going wrong for longer than he even suspected.

The undercover ninja sensed the hiding samurai before she saw him. Suzu stopped in her tracks. She was tired after destroying the Raiden squadron and she had used up all her _anki_. But the shinobi barely had time to decide whether to retreat or press forward when Kanbei sprung out from his hiding place with his hand on his sword hilt.

"Who are you?" the commander demanded. "Did you destroy the cameras?"

The secret agent's answer was to attack Kanbei with Mahiro's sword. The dark commander dodged and drew his own sword. Polished blades clashed like lightning as ninja and samurai crossed swords in the wide hallway of Irakawa Castle. Suzu's movements were calculated and economical, but they also hinted at the fact that the shinobi was weary. This was not the best time for her to duel a fresh fighter, especially one of such strong skill. Suzu was hoping to regroup with her comrades but luck was not on her side.

Under different circumstances, Kanbei might well have been the one to die. But the Confederated Army ninja had not been able to keep in constant training like her comrades during the last two years she was working undercover as a janitor. And Colonel Shimada was younger than the skinny kunoichi whose strength was already on the wane.

The tall commander preyed on the knowledge that the middle-aged woman needed to end this duel fast to preserve what little remained of her energy. The crafty samurai allowed an opening, feinting a missed strike to her torso. The kunoichi, who would have been more cautious under normal circumstances, "took advantage" of Kanbei's unguarded stance and went in for the kill. She was felled by an oblique stab to the eye. Colonel Shimada's sword passed right through the skull of the janitor who looked like someone's aunty.

"This janitor must have been a Confederated Army shinobi!" Kanbei thought as he stared into the gory face of the fallen ninja. "She was already working in Irakawa Castle when the Second Regiment retreated here. How many secrets has she given away?!!"

The rather unimpressive-looking janitor had never done anything out of the ordinary, but now that Kanbei thought of it, Suzu did have the habit of saving food scraps from the kitchen to feed pigeons. "A cute hobby," some of the samurai had said when they saw the middle-aged aunty feeding birds on the castle balcony. "Cute indeed!" Colonel Shimada thought, "Those birds probably flew back to the Feddies with Suzu's intelligence reports!"

Still, there was no point dwelling on the damage that had already been done. Kanbei sprinted towards Hangar 4. At least he had found an answer to the mystery of the 'dying cameras'.

"So, taking out the security cameras were probably the work of this skilled shinobi!" the commander thought. But still, Shimada Kanbei was not satisfied by his own explanation. The security cameras for the different castle levels had failed in rapid succession. Suzu could not have done all of that unless she possessed the supernatural skill of being in many places at the same time. And as versatile as a ninja was, she was only human.

* * *

**Author's Comments:**

- In the anime, Shichiroji tells Heihachi the greatest danger is not the enemy but a spy in their midst. This is my version of how Kanbei and Shichiroji came to experience this 'greatest danger' firsthand.

- "This is a _bushi_ of no ordinary skill, if it is even a _bushi_ at all…" Kanbei said that because some samurai don't consider the ninjas as warriors.

- As to why this is "the chickens coming home to roost" for Kanbei, see companion fics Unforgiven and Retribution chapters 9-10.

- in a 'real' ninja operation, the ninjas would be disguised in the uniforms of Kanbei's soldiers, but I'm letting them stay with the stereotypical black to make it easier for characters on opposing sides to contrast with each other in upcoming chapters.


	6. Checkmate

**Notes:**

- From Kanbei and Shichiroji's perspective, Haruko is a 'he' since she looks like a man and sounds like a man.

- ninjas are also called _kage nin_ – shadow person/people.

* * *

The sight that greeted Shichiroji when he stepped into the mecha repair room Hangar 4 was not one he expected. Twelve mechanics lay very still on the floor of the huge chamber. One had fallen close to the door, right at Shichiroji's feet, The dead man's arm was stretched out as if trying to reach for safety. "What killed him?!!" Shichiroji asked himself as his eyes widened in shock. There was no blood on the corpse. Then the aide noticed the blow dart in the soldier's back. The tip must have been poisoned.

The other Allied technicians were sprawled around the Raiden parked near the closed landing door. As for the Raiden Takeo himself, he was sitting on the floor motionless. Shichiroji noticed his cargo compartment was open.

The cursed realization dawned on the horrified aide. The enemy had flown right into their base by hitching a ride in Takeo's cargo compartment. Shichiroji raced towards the hangar's communications panel. He had to warn everyone. But before his finger could touch the intercom button, a shadow came up behind him. The Allied Forces soldier felt a cold blade of a short sword against his neck. He froze.

"Shinobi!" the thought came into his mind. The samurai had not detected his enemy's approach. It had to be a ninja - a master of infiltration. There was a reason why the ninjas were called the shadow people and commandos were called the quiet professionals.

"Forget about giving the alarm," Shichiroji heard the businesslike voice of a woman speak behind him. "The line has been cut."

"We've been infiltrated by enemy Special Forces operatives!" Shichiroji thought with a sinking heart.

"Take me to the command center!" The enemy commando ordered. "Now walk!"

--

Yaeko knew where the command center was. The commandos had studied the blueprint for the castle. What they needed was the access code to enter the command center. Suzu told them the command center's reinforced metal doors could not be opened by a card key. They needed a PIN that was known only to a select group of officers. The ninja spy Suzu had not been able to crack the access code.

But this blond samurai should have this information. His rank insigne indicated he was a commissioned officer. From what their spy Suzu had told them of the Allied regiment's personnel, Yaeko guessed the man she held captive was probably one of the aides to the enemy commander.

"Take me to the command center!" Yaeko ordered. But the enemy samurai did not respond. Maybe he was not taking her seriously enough. The kunoichi's left hand pressed the blade of her wakizashi a little deeper into the enemy soldier's flesh to show him she meant business.

"Start walking!" she said once more. "Or you're a dead man!"

The aide was not going to cooperate. Kanbei, Hideki and Shinji were in the command center. Shichiroji would not hand his friends' lives over to this Confederated Army ninja. The blond thought of reaching for the extendable spear that hung from his belt, but he knew the ninja could easily counter that movement . The other option was to shoot a cable from his mechanized arm to an overhead beam and swing himself away from the enemy commando. Shichiroji made his decision. Flight was better than fight. His first priority was to escape and warn his comrades.

The samurai was quick, but the moment he moved his left arm, the aide had the misfortune to experience the legendary reflexes of a ninja. Immediately Shichiroji felt the blade cut into his upper arm, severing the cybernetic circuits connecting his mechanized forearm to his shoulder. Shichiroji lost all motor control over his metal arm. Still, he tried to pull away from the ninja behind him. She could kill him, Shichiroji knew, but he had to take the chance.

--

Yaeko did not want to kill this samurai. The young man was more useful alive than dead. So the commando did not press her blade into Shichiroji's throat when he tried to escape. Rather, the ninja deftly slid the short sword down to cut into his upper arm while she seized his cuff with her other hand. Still, the samurai pulled away, ripping his sleeve off in the process.

"This person requires further intimidation," Yaeko thought as she closed the distance before Shichiroji had the time to take more than two steps. The aide found a sword against his throat once more.

"Don't get any ideas. Any wayward move from you and I can end your life now." The ninja warned as Shichiroji felt the cold blade of the wakizashi pressing into his flesh. "Now walk!"

Shichiroji shuddered. How was he going to escape and warn Kanbei? There was a short silent pause that seemed very long to both shinobi and samurai.

Yaeko made her decision. "Well, if this person is not going to be useful, he might as well be dead." She would have to find another way of breaching the command center. At the rate things were going, it seemed her comrades would have to take Plan B - blow the entire castle up. The ninja team had fanned out and were planting explosives all over the castle. They would rather deactivate the castle's anti-aircraft systems and let the Confederated Army samurai take the Allied base intact. But if no one could enter the highly secured command center, their only alternative was to destroy the whole fortress. Time was running out. The bombs would go off on time unless one of the shinobi gave the signal that the command center had been secured. It seemed that she might not be the one to do it.

The kunoichi was just about to make a clean cut across Shichiroji's pale throat when she felt a keen blade against her own neck.

"Release him!" a stern voice behind her commanded.

The commando smirked darkly. This was no common warrior to be able to sneak up on a ninja undetected.

"Am I dealing with another ninja?" She asked calmly. "Or are you samurai?"

"Samurai desu." Kanbei replied coldly.

The kunoichi gritted her teeth in a twisted grin as she felt Kanbei's sword cut past her skin. But she did not release Shichiroji.

"It seems we are stuck in a stalemate," the black-clad commando remarked as she ignored the trickle of blood sliding down her neck. "Well, what's there to stop you from killing me once I release your friend?"

"A samurai's honor," the dark-haired commander replied.

"I have another plan. I'll kill your comrade and then you can kill me. Even if you make the killing move first, I will still have enough strength left to slit his throat. And you will still be the loser. That should be a satisfactory conclusion." The kunoichi's blade cut a little deeper into Shichiroji's soft neck. The pale man bit his lip as he felt warm blood run down his skin.

"Is human life, including your own, of no value to you?" the Allied commander asked darkly.

"Ninja and samurai, we operate by different rules," Yaeko replied. "But we have one thing in common. We are trained to fight to the death for our masters. And that means no compromises."

"Release him!" Kanbei commanded sharply once more. He was in no mood to debate battlefield ethics with an enemy shinobi.

That was when he too felt the cold blade of a sword pressed against his neck.

"The castle is going to blow up in 20 minutes." A deep, calm voice announced behind him. "We can all die here at that time, or we can slay each other now. Or, I have a third plan. Release my shinobi, then I will give her the order to let your samurai go."

"And what's there to stop you from killing me and her from killing him once you've gotten my compliance?" Kanbei asked the newcomer. "I know better than to trust a shadow man."

"I am not a ninja. I am a samurai," his unseen enemy spoke behind him once more. "And on my part, I will let you go once you have released my subordinate and sheathed your sword."

Kanbei bristled at the arrogance of the speaker. He could probably kill this man in a one-on-one duel, but it appeared that he was not in a position to bargain. The samurai removed his sword from the kunoichi's neck and sheathed it.

"I accept your offer," the tall dark warrior said.

"Yaegiri-dono," the person behind Kanbei spoke, "release your hostage." The kunoichi retracted her blade and, with a quick flick of her wrist, she struck Shichiroji on the left temple using the base of her sword handle. Before anyone could blink, Yaeko pivoted out of Kanbei's way while giving the falling Shichiroji a parting slash to the thigh with her wakizashi. An unconscious Shichiroji fell on his face, bleeding from the leg while the kunoichi crossed the room in two quick somersaults, putting a safe distance between herself and the formidable Colonel Shimada.

Kanbei felt the enemy's blade leave his own neck. In a flash, the dark-haired warrior spun around to face the previously unseen samurai behind him. It was a tall man wearing a black cloth mask over his nose and mouth. This dark-eyed, pale-skinned warrior carried twin scabbards across his back. The enemy samurai simultaneously stepped backwards out of Kanbei's sword range. The dark commander drew his sword. Colonel Shimada could accept defeat in battle, but he could not accept being defeated without even having fought like a samurai.

The black-clad enemy warrior kept his drawn sword pointed at Kanbei while he drew his second sword. Colonel Shimada studied this strange samurai. He was almost as tall as Kanbei, slimmer than the Allied commander and yet not lanky and ungainly like many others of that height. The masked commando officer was broad-shouldered and of solid build.

As Yaeko looked on with alarm, the tall two commanders, one in black, one in khaki green, began circling each other cautiously in the hangar. Would this turn into a death duel? Time was running out for everyone.

* * *

**Author's Comment:**

- In the scene in which Yukino finds Shichi in the river, he had a bloody temple and a ripped left sleeve. So I'm filling in the situation in which he got these injuries.


	7. Demon from the Past

Vocab: _buke_ – warrior class (literally 'martial families')

* * *

As the two samurai faced off amidst the corpses in Hangar 4, the Confederated Army commander with obsidian eyes spoke. "You have just bought your life. I would have let you leave this place unhindered. Why are you so eager to throw your life away again?"

"Don't be so sure that my life is the one that would end first!" Kanbei said with the barest hint of anger in his voice.

"Look here," the enemy officer holding twin swords responded with more than a hint of impatient scorn, "You pick your priorities. You can either choose to salvage your wounded pride by trying to destroy me in a duel, or you can do something for your friend, who can't possibly flee this place without help."

Kanbei cast a quick glance at Shichiroji. The blond lay sprawled on the ground. His eyes were closed and his pant leg was stained with blood.

"I cut a major artery, but he still has time." the shinobi woman standing behind the enemy samurai announced matter-of-factly. "That is, if the castle does not blow up first."

Kanbei turned to face the tall pale-skinned commander once more. His dark eyes narrowed.

"It serves me no purpose to kill you, since my forces have already accomplished what they came here to do." The warrior with the blue-black hair stated. "You and I can fight to the death here, or you can leave this place without incident while there is still time. The choice is yours."

Kanbei lowered his blade with slight reluctance. But the next moment, he decisively sheathed his sword and went over to his fallen aide. The commander shook Shichiroji's shoulder lightly and patted his cheek. "Kanbei-sama…" Shichiroji murmured weakly as he regained a degree of consciousness. Colonel Shimada helped the younger man to his feet and turned to leave. But something made the dark man pause for a moment. There was a familiar ring to the enemy samurai's voice. Kanbei was sure he had heard it before. But where? Then came to his mind the tall Southlander he saw in the Northland village of Kaneda eight years ago.

They say, when you address a demon by its name and without fear, you take away some of its power.

"Tashiro Haruhiko," Kanbei spoke without turning to face his enemy. "Is that you?"

Haruko was surprised. It was against policy for a Special Forces soldier's identity to be publicly known. How did this man know her alias? Was there an intelligence leak? The victorious officer felt vaguely uncomfortable but she showed no reaction.

Without waiting for a reply, the dark samurai went on. "I should have killed you then, if I had known this day would come."

Now Colonel Shimada turned his head so he could look the enemy commando in the eye. "You told me you were not in the army." The dark man said accusingly. Haruko stared back at him with unblinking coal black eyes.

"So… it is you… I regret I never learnt your name then. Though I guess now you must be Colonel Shimada," the reply came through the commando's face mask. "I did not lie to you when we first met. I was not in the army at that time. Someone as honorable as yourself would not have killed me then even if you could see the future."

"Then perhaps honor is my downfall," Kanbei responded in an unreadable tone. "Why did you decide to fight in the war? The Southern clans don't conscript the women of the _buke_. You must have volunteered."

"I joined the Army of my own accord because I thought I could be the kind of humane and just soldier that you are. A _jingi no samurai_," the reply came with a cold, bitter laugh. "But now I see that I was wrong. I am not like you."

Kanbei regarded his adversary with an icy expression. Shichiroji was by now quite conscious, though still groggy. He stared from Kanbei to Haruko with confused blue eyes.

Yaeko too looked uneasily from her commanding officer to the enemy commander. The air between the two tall warriors, one pale, one dark, was heavy with the weight of present doubt and past guilt.

"By the way," Haruko spoke to Kanbei once more, "My little brother thanked you for the stuffed toy. He would liked to have met you in person."

"And where is your little brother now?" Shichiroji could now hear the undisguised anger in Kanbei's raised voice. "Is he here, killing my men?!!"

"No, he's not under my command. At this moment, he is probably fighting in Akashima Province," came the cool reply.

Kanbei's jaw clenched visibly. But the man's voice was even when he asked, "Before we part ways, I'll like to know why Takeo betrayed us."

"Takeo? Is that the Raiden's name?" the Confederated officer responded. "Your friend did not betray you. What flew into your base was a soulless shell. Your comrade does not live in that body anymore."

"What did you do to Takeo?!!" Now it was Shichiroji's turn to shout with what little strength he had left.

"Nothing much. You'll be pleased to hear his brain is still alive. Though disembodied."

"You rat bastard!" Shichiroji screamed. "You son of a b----!!!"

"We'll give your friend a new body after the war. It just won't be as imposing as the old one - probably a factory reject Mimizuku." The 'man' said charmingly in 'his' deep smooth voice. "And watch your language. There's a lady present."

"What lady?" Shichiroji glared at the ninja woman as his outraged voice quivered. "That's a professional butcher! A murderous, underhanded b----!"

"She's no more a professional butcher than you are." Tashiro Haruko's eyes narrowed. "Now leave!"

--

Two men, the younger supported in the strong arms of the older, made their way down from the fourth floor of Irakawa Castle, stumbling through corpse-lined hallways. Samurai, some still holding their swords, had fallen left and right. The ninjas did not come to take prisoners.

"Everyone evacuate! Abandon the castle now!!!" Colonel Shimada shouted as he dragged Shichiroji along, hoping against hope that any still-living samurai left in the castle could still hear him.

There was no response. If only the intercom was still working, then he could warn everyone. But Kanbei knew the line had been cut.

When they reached the first floor of the fortress, the hallways were littered even more thickly with dead bodies. This was probably where the enemy commandos met with the most resistance.

Kanbei and Shichiroji recognized the dead faces of men they had once eaten and drank with. Still, Kanbei called out again and again . "Everyone, evacuate!"

The only answer was an eerie silence.

"Shinji-dono and Hideki-dono… Are they still in the command center?" Shichiroji asked Kanbei suddenly. The dark commander did not reply.

"We must go back for them!" the aide said weakly.

"There is no time," came the matter-of-fact reply. Kanbei continued to drag the younger samurai forward without the slightest pause. He knew, much as it pained him, that he probably only had time to save one.

"When the castle is destroyed, Shinji and Hideki will probably perish," the Colonel realized, "My last order to them has sealed their fate." Shimada knew that Captain Sanou and Lieutenant Izumi obeyed him unquestioningly, and that meant the two samurai would stay in the command center until Kanbei returned – or until the castle imploded. Shimada felt sick at the thought, though he placed some hope in the reinforced metal walls of the commander's room. Maybe those walls would hold. But would the floor hold up?

As they passed through the hallway outside Hangar 1, the Colonel stubbed his foot against yet another dead body. He looked down and saw the corpse of Major Machida, his former aide. The man who six months ago had saved Kanbei's life now lay dead with a shuriken embedded in his neck. But Colonel Shimada did not stop in his stride.

"Yes, I'm the type of man who walks over the dead bodies of his comrades," Kanbei remarked to the groggy Shichiroji as he stepped over Machida Mahiro.

As the aide staggered on, Shichiroji was vaguely aware of the blood seeping through his trousers as he felt more and more faint. "Leave me and go, Kanbei-sama," the aide whispered. "I'm not going to make it."

Kanbei laid his friend down on the floor. Then he removed his own jacket and ripped off its sleeve with his teeth. Quickly, he bound up Shichiroji's wound with the torn fabric. "That would slow the bleeding," he said reassuringly to the blond. "You will live."

Then Kanbei carried the younger man down one more floor to the river level of the castle, an enclosed waterway that led out to Ira River. Kanbei sat the weakened aide against the castle wall, then he quickly punched in his access code on the key pad of the castle level's storage room door. The metal door slid open. Within the room were the individual escape pods intended for use in an emergency. The commander dragged one of the coffin-sized pods to the boat landing. Without wasting a second, he laid his friend in the pod. Colonel Shimada set the control panel of the coffin-shaped box to auto-pilot mode and was about to close the lid when he made the mistake of saying, "Farewell, Shichiroji."

That was when the semi-conscious aide realized his commander was staying behind. "Wha-?" the blond started.

Shichiroji did not get to finish his question before the Colonel shut the lid of the escape pod and pushed it off the landing into the water. Kanbei had watched Shichiroji grow from a boy into a man. He did not want to watch him die. Then the tall samurai turned away and sprinted up the stairs to the castle's first floor as the fiberglass case glided towards the exit that led to the river outside.

"Kanbei-sama! Kanbei-sama!" The commander could hear Shichiroji's muffled screams grow fainter. He knew he was out of time to save the rest, but at least he had to die trying.

--

Shichiroji struck ineffectively at the clear bullet-proof glass imprisoning him inside the escape pod even as he drifted towards the castle's exit. He wanted to get out and go back to Kanbei.

"Kanbei-sama!" the pale young man cried out weakly once more. But his cries were drowned out when loud explosions tore through the fortress. Concrete blocks and pieces twisted metal fell left and right into the water around Shichiroji. The exit was only meters ahead. For one who wanted to live, that opening to the outside world would seem so close and yet so far away. Only that Shichiroji did not want to live. He wanted to die with his commander. Yet that choice was not his to make. For at that moment the weakened samurai passed into unconsciousness against his will. The twenty-five-year old drifted into oblivion as the pod drifted out into open water.

--

On the opposite bank of Ira River, a Raiden sat with its head bowed, its posture almost like that of a human in deep dejection. Standing beside the giant mecha, the Confederated Army Special Forces commandos and their tall samurai commander watched Irakawa Castle fall in a deafening series of explosions.

The north wall of the castle crumbled into the swirling brown waters of Ira River as the ninjas looked on impassively, except for the youngest commando, who was little more than a child. "Wow…" the youthful shadow warrior mouthed silently, staring awestruck at the fireworks bringing down the mighty fortress.

Next to Commander Tashiro was a kneeling woman. This female commando was cradling the body of the ninja Kanbei had killed. Yaeko, her wounded neck now wrapped with a bloody bandage, looked upon the other woman's gored face without revulsion. The kunoichi was speaking to her former comrade in a strange voice that might have sounded comforting in another time and place. "We succeeded, Suzu. We destroyed them. We could not have done it without you. Now everything will be all right. We're taking you home."

"War is an ugly, ugly thing." Major Tashiro said to herself. "It changes people into monsters. But perhaps we need not be monsters or fight monsters for much longer. The end is in sight."

If the strategies of the Confederated Army high command came to fruition as planned, the Allied Forces would be crushed and this seemingly interminable Great War would soon be over. The Major and her ninja commandos successfully carried out their role in the plan. Now it was time for the rest of the Confederated Army to do their part in the battle for the West.

* * *

**Author's Comments:**

See Wolf Warriors Ch 3-5 for the Kanbei-Kyuuzou-Haruhiko history. When Kanbei first met Haruko/Haruhiko, he sensed an equal worth dueling. Haruko/Haruhiko chose not to fight Kanbei not because she was certain she can't beat him but because she has other options and other priorities. Sun Zi's Art of War put forth the idea that the ultimate in the Art of War is to win the conflict without fighting. In Retribution chapter Revelation, Kyuuzou apparently believes that Haruko could have killed Kanbei if she wanted to.

The choice of Hangar 4 as setting is because one of the kanji pronunciations for the number 4 has the same pronunciation of the kanji for 'death;.

- "May 'honor' be a trap to him, be his downfall, his doom" was part of a curse little Kyuuzou placed on Kanbei in Unforgiven. Maybe it's a coincidence that Kanbei said, "Then honor is my downfall," in this chapter. Or maybe not.

perhaps the ninja infiltration in this story is the reason why Shichiroji says later to Heihachi in S7 that the most dangerous adversary is a spy or traitor in their midst.

one could say Kanbei learnt from this defeat – he used Haruko's 'infiltration by giant mecha cargo compartment' trick in S7.


	8. Survivor's Guilt

**Notes:**

- During the Tokugawa shogunate, peasants were officially the highest commoner class, right below samurai. Next were the artisans, followed by merchants and then the outcast class consisting of _hinin_ ('non-humans') - actors, prostitutes, etc and _eta_ ('much filth') - tanners, undertakers, butchers (folks whose occupations involved contact with dead bodies and blood). But in reality, money speaks louder than class theory, so a rich outcast had more clout than a poor peasant.

- merchants were powerful during the Sengoku Jidai (Seven Samurai was set towards the end of that era), with the resources and organization to challenge the samurai class, despite legal discrimination in favor of samurai. According to Secrets of the Samurai (Ratti/Westbrook), the samurai never forgave the merchants for their political maneuverings, so after the shogunate unified the country, the shogun officially sank the merchants to the bottom of the social ladder. That mode of anti-merchant thinking was present to a degree in earlier periods, as the samurai class sought to indoctrinate its members with their version of Confucianism. (Confucius encouraged absolute loyalty to lord and father. He also despised merchants.)

- the _chonin_ (townspeople –merchants and artisans) created self-defense organizations in response to the samurai's violent excesses. These were the _otokodate_. (Source: Secrets of the Samurai) Members were commoners and sometimes ronin. The _otokodate_ were said by some to be the precursor to the yakuza.

* * *

Shichiroji heard voices as he floated in the strange state between dreaming and waking. 

A woman was speaking. "It's fortunate you and your husband share the same blood type. We're having a shortage in our blood bank right now. Representatives of the Confederated Army came by and conscripted two thirds of the city's blood supplies two days ago. Lord Ayamaro was not happy but it's not like he has much of a say when it comes to samurai taking supplies in the name of the Empire."

"I thank you for your help, doctor." Another woman answered. "My husband would have died if not for you."

Now Shichiroji realized he was not dreaming. He could feel that he was lying on something soft. A bed? And these voices sounded very real. Where was he? And who were these people?

The samurai was now completely awake. He sensed soft cloth bound around his cut leg and his wounded arm. Bandages? But the Allied soldier thought it wise to feign sleep. He stayed motionless but opened his eyes just barely to see what he could learn of his surroundings. It was difficult to get much visual information without turning his head, but he could see his feet, the bed posts of a metal framed bed and a white frocked figure beyond it.

"You should take a rest," the white frocked figure was addressing someone. "You must be tired after donating blood. The hospital has a waiting room with couches."

"It's all right, doctor," a gentle voice on his left responded. "I'll stay by him until he wakes."

Shichiroji could not see the speaker without turning his head.

"There are energy drinks in the waiting room on the third floor. Feel free to help yourself anytime." The white frocked figure spoke once more.

"Thank you for your kindness," the mystery voice on his left replied as the white frock moved out of Shichiroji's range of vision.

The aide closed his eyes once more and waited until everything had been quiet for a while. When he was sure he was alone except for this unseen stranger beside him, he opened his eyes and turned his head towards his left.

A beautiful face framed by soft black hair smiled down at him. Shichiroji studied the owner of the mystery voice carefully. She was a pale-skinned woman dressed in a maroon kimono. The wounded man guessed she was probably 2 or 3 years older than him. Who was this person? Was she a friend or a foe? He did not think she would harm him, but one could never be certain. This woman's proximity did not make Shichiroji comfortable although his rational mind told him that in all likelihood, she was not here to kill him. She did not have the _ki _of a fighter.

"Where am I?" Shichiroji whispered somewhat apprehensively.

"You're in a hospital in Iyashi no Sato," her answer came to him in a hushed whisper.

"Iyashi no Sato?" Shichiroji tried to read the intention in the stranger's eyes but found those liquid black orbs unfathomable.

"Iyashi no Sato, the Pleasure District of Kougakyo City," she answered him.

"Kougakyo!" Shichiroji turned a shade paler. The escape pod must have floated down Ira River into Chou River, and then drifted into the small waterways that ran through the ground level of Kougakyo. The city-state of Kougakyo was in Confederated territory. Would he now be turned over to the Confederated Army? The blond tried to get up but a firm hand held him down.

The stranger bent to whisper briskly in his ear. "I found you in the canal. I burnt your uniform and dressed you in civilian clothes before bringing you here. I did not see any Allied Army insignia on the case you arrived in, but I'm not a samurai, so I don't know if military equipment can be identified as belonging to a particular army by their serial numbers. To be safe, I had my employees bury it in our backyard and plant chrysanthemums over it. No one knows you are an Allied soldier except those in my house, and their lips are sealed."

Shichiroji lay on the bed in silence as he let the information sink into his confused mind. Should he trust this fair-speaking stranger?

She did not wait for his answer. The black-haired woman continued whispering in his ear. "I told the hospital you are my husband and that you were knifed during a robbery. I gave your name as 'Ichiro', so be sure to respond to that name if the hospital staff addresses you. Just play along until we get you out of here."

The lost soldier decided he had no choice but to trust this woman and do as she directed. "How is the war going?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"I heard Akashima Province fell to the Confederated Army two days ago. The Confederated troops now sweeping through the western Allied states. I'm sorry to tell you this, but I think the shogun is going to lose this war. And soon."

Shichiroji's jaw clenched as his hands started to shake. "Where is Kanbei?" he wondered. "Is he dead? He must be dead!"

"I have to go back to work now," said the woman, "But I'll be back tomorrow."

She rose from her chair.

"Wait!" Shichiroji said.

"May I enquire after the name of my rescuer?" Shichiroji asked in a low voice.

"My name is Yukino," came the soft reply. But she did not ask for his name in return, and neither did he tell her.

As Shichiroji watched her graceful figure walk out of the door of the hospital room, he wondered if the next time she walked through that door, she would be bringing Confederated soldiers with her.

But none of his fears came to pass. The beautiful woman came back to see the samurai day after day until he was discharged from the hospital. On the day of his discharge, Yukino brought a small old lady to Shichiroji's hospital room. Yukino introduced the old woman as Nanami. Together the women helped Shichiroji to his feet and brought him down to the bottom floor of the hospital. There, in the driveway, a middle-aged man was waiting for them in a small three-wheeled sedan. He gave his name as Nobuyoshi.

"Both Nanami and Nobuyoshi are trusted employees of mine," Yukino said to Shichiroji as the four rode the sedan through the congested streets of Iyashi no Sato. "They were the ones who buried your pod."

"I'm sorry to have caused you trouble," Shichiroji said cautiously to the servants. "You have my thanks."

It was not until they arrived at their destination – a large neon-lit house with the word "Firefly" decorating its façade in big bold type – that Shichiroji realized with chagrin that he had not yet said one word of thanks to Yukino herself. Still, he had not decided if she was trustworthy.

His gracious hostess seemed unperturbed so far. She helped him out of the sedan and ushered him into the house. "This is my humble place of business," Yukino explained as she led him through The House of the Fireflies's airy wooden hallways. "It is an inn, as you have guessed by now. We also rent out rooms for private events."

The innkeeper stopped in front of a small room near the end of the hallway. "This is your room," she said to Shichiroji as she slid the room's screen door open. "You can stay here."

The soldier paused briefly at the door. When he sensed no hidden presence in the dark room, he stepped inside. Yukino followed him in and quickly opened the window, letting a welcome stream of sunlight and fresh air in.

"I'm sure you're hungry," the innkeeper spoke kindly. "I'll have Nanami bring you some food."

"Thank you very much, but I'm fine," Shichiroji answered cautiously. "I had breakfast at the hospital."

"Call me or any of the staff when you need anything. Kitchen is on the first floor, west wing. Bathroom is at the other end of the hall." Yukino smiled. "Just make yourself at home." Then she turned to leave.

Looking at her departing figure, Shichiroji rationalized that someone who unhesitatingly gave her blood to save his life would probably not betray him.

"Yukino-san," Shichiroji called out hesitantly.

"Yes?" the black-haired beauty turned in the doorway.

"My name is Shichiroji," he said sheepishly.

Yukino gave him a beautiful smile. "Well, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Shichiroji-dono."

"I am ashamed I have neglected to thank you so far. Let me correct that mistake now. Please accept my sincere thanks, my benefactor!" Rather awkwardly, the samurai slowly got on his knees and bowed his head to the floor.

"Please rise!" the woman said in a shocked voice.

From his prostrate position, Shichiroji heard the rustle of her robe as she knelt down beside him on the reed floor mat.

The samurai raised his head to meet Yukino's eyes. The woman replied with a smile as she put a kind hand on his shoulder, "Come now, it's not proper etiquette for a samurai to prostrate himself before a commoner, especially one who lives and works in the district of the _hinin_."

"Why did you help me?" Shichiroji finally found the courage to ask. "I will only bring trouble to you and your household."

"People come in and out of this place all the time, so a new face will not invite any questions," Yukino answered kindly. "I'm sure there won't be trouble. As for why we helped you…"

She paused as she straightened her back and rested her weight on her heels. Shichiroji sat up too. The dark-eyed woman spoke as she gazed into his pale blue eyes.

"'Even a hunter should not kill a bird that flies to her/him for refuge,' or so I've heard from a samurai who came to my inn once. He said that is the ideal code of _jingi_ that you samurai are supposed to live by." Yukino sighed.

Shichiroji knew there was much left unsaid in the commoner's sigh. Many, if not most samurai had not lived by the code of _jingi_. They bullied commoners for many centuries, so much so that peasants rebelled and merchants had to form their own self-defense organizations.

The innkeeper continued speaking softly, as if to herself. "But even some merchants and 'non-humans' understand _jingi_ - humanity and justice. Letting a wounded stranger die is not an option for us. Turning you over to the Confederated Army is not something we considered either. In Iyashi no Sato, we don't take sides in the war."

Shichiroji bowed his head. "Your kindness will be forever remembered."

"At any rate," Yukino said brightly, "Confederated soldiers are seldom seen here unless they are off duty. Even the city governor Ayamaro claims he has no jurisdiction over this place. He declared Iyashi no Sato a tax-free zone and while he does visit from time to time, his city police does not operate here. Unfortunately, he has no power over the Confederated Army which answers only to the taisho and the emperor, or he would keep them out of Kougakyo too."

The woman patted Shichiroji's back reassuringly.

The young man spoke to her earnestly. "I must owe you a lot of money for the hospital expenses and the trouble I put you and your employees through. But as you can tell, I don't have a penny on me, so I hope you will consider accepting my labor as repayment."

Yukino smiled. She wondered if this was a samurai's way of saying, "I have nowhere to go and no money to live on. Can I stay here?"

But the innkeeper whose livelihood depended on pleasing others knew how to keep egos intact.

"The House of the Fireflies can certainly do with some help, and we'll be honored to have someone of your skills." the dark-haired beauty said warmly. "But please do not concern yourself with such matters for now. Just rest and recover. We will speak of work in time. I leave you to your rest."

She got to her feet. Shichiroji heard the door shut and listened to the soft patter of Yukino's feet walking down the hallway. Then samurai lay down on the sleeping mat and stared at the ceiling. That was when memories of Irakawa Castle came crowding into that empty space above him. The Allied soldier saw again the limp body of the Raiden Takeo, robbed of his humanity and his dignity by the enemy, turned against his will into a vehicle of betrayal. He felt once more the cold steel of the ninja's blade. He saw in his mind that man-woman samurai Kanbei challenged in the village of Kaneda - 'he' who once wore that deceivingly disarming smile had now become the face of Death.

Shichiroji squeezed his eyes shut. But the visions continued. Behind his lids he saw all of the faces of the men he left behind. The aide saw Kanbei, Hideki, Shinji, Mahiro, and all those men cheering him on as he exercised his mechanical arm in the gym. He would have gladly given his life for any of them. But they were dead, and he was alive. "Why?" he wondered.

"Yukino's kindness is too much for me!" Shichiroji's lip quivered as his train of thought ran on. "I don't deserve to be alive! Why am I here?"

"Why?!!" Shichiroji finally said the words out loud. "Why?!! WHY?" Then he curled up into a ball and cried as he had never cried.


	9. Shadow of the Sword

**Synopsis:** Kanbei and his nemesis each have to face the music after the Great War ends.

**Notes:**

- Major Tashiro Haruko is Captain Kouta's commanding officer. Colonel Yamane, as head of Special Operations, is Haruko and Kouta's highest superior other than the General himself.

- Kanbei belongs to the Aokuma Clan of Akashima Province, but he is an officer in the combined army serving the shogun (The Allied Forces). In the 'real world' of the Tokugawa era, some samurai from provincial clans came to the capital where they "waited upon the shogun after having been delegated to him by their lords for specific duties or a certain period of time." (Ratti/Westbrook, _Secrets of the Samurai_)

- On the other side, Haruko belongs to the Kurume Clan of Nankai Prefecture; she is part of her clan's troop contribution to the Confederated Army. In history, the practice of all clans contributing soldiers to a combined army goes back to the 7th century at least. (_Secrets of the Samurai_)

- The samurai clan of Nankai Prefecture (an imaginary place in this ficverse) more closely approaches a non-hereditary military government. That's why the Kurume clan daimyo is not a Lord Kurume. Presumably, at some time in the past, the daimyo was indeed a Lord Kurume, but because the clan leadership passes to the most capable/popular samurai and not necessarily to the leader's son (although the son would most likely be a favored candidate), a non-Kurume could become daimyo. In fact, in this ficverse, the samurai in many states were not a warrior caste. They were a class, which means it was not impossible for people to enter or leave that classification. Quite a number of the Northland states of this ficverse, however, practiced a caste system.

- For most of Japanese history, the various social strata were classes, NOT castes. The samurai were not a warrior caste. According to _Secrets of the Samurai_, during the Sengoku Jidai any samurai born into any rank (and in some cases, non-samurai) could rise to become clan leader. But during the tightly controlled Tokugawa era, such a phenomenon became prohibited by law. Class divisions solidified to the point where it was extremely difficult for a samurai to stop being a samurai, even if he wanted to quit. Tokugawa era regulations also made it next to impossible for lower samurai or commoners to join the ranks of the upper samurai, resulting in a caste-like system.

- In this ficverse, the terms _daimyo, prefect, provincial governor, state governor, military governor_ are used interchangeably.

* * *

Commando captain Kouta had been apprehensive about the aftermath of Operation Hanabi. The operation's staggering success – the destruction of Irakawa Castle and the accompanying annihilation of the Allied Air Force Second Regiment – would not be enough to excuse the murder of a defenseless prisoner-of-war, at least not by military law books. 

Everyone was conscious of the fact that Irakawa Castle would not have been toppled – and the Great War possibly not have been won – had Commander Tashiro not killed the Allied POW to frighten his comrade into giving up key information. Every one of the few Confederated Army rank-and-file soldiers who knew of this case - not just the shinobi, but also the samurai – felt that the Major should not be charged, but it seemed that Haruko had already made her decision. After the commandos reported back to base, the Special Forces commander turned herself over to Military Police and reported the killing. Kouta had been worried that Yaeko would be charged as an accessory to the murder, but Tashiro Haruko apparently covered up for her aide by claiming full responsibility for shooting the POW.

Captain Kouta was relieved that none of the four ninjas witnesses except for himself were subpoenaed by the military tribunal. Knowing the diehard shinobi, they would stubbornly refuse to testify against their commander, and they would in turn be charged with contempt of court. It was to spare his subordinates this fate that Captain Kouta agreed to testify against his superior officer.

--

_One week after the official end of the Great War…_

A hush fell over the military courtroom as the samurai tribunal announced the verdict.

"Major Tashiro Haruko has been found guilty of the murder of the Allied prisoner-of-war Kouyama Masamochi! According to Article 279, the punishment is…"

The accused did not bat an eyelid. Nor did the sentence that followed surprise the tall mannish samurai with blue-black hair. Haruko knew from the start that there would be consequences for her actions. Yet she had no regrets. To end this war; the wolf chose what she thought was the lesser of two evils.

The Special Forces officer was glad the trial was not publicized. If Ayame got wind of her death sentence, Third Sister would undoubtedly attempt a hopeless rescue mission that would embroil them in further illegality. Not only that, her _kouhai_ would probably bring young Kyuuzou along to 'save' her, and then there would be three death sentences instead of one, not to mention more innocent samurai slain. Even if they did succeed in escaping, they would have to live the rest of their lives as fugitives, and Haruko did not wish that fate on any of her juniors.

Nevertheless, as the condemned prisoner sat in a cold jail cell, awaiting the date of her self-destruction, she asked the military prison guards to send a letter to her former aide Yaeko. The samurai wanted the kunoichi to come to her. Within the letter were instructions for favors Haruko wanted Yaeko to do for her after her death. The condemned samurai wanted the ninja to deliver her twin swords to Ayame. Her _kouhai_ could then return Butenma and Hitenma to their teacher's keeping. She also wanted Yaeko to deliver the last letters she would write to those she was leaving behind.

It took the prisoner quite a bit of persuasion just to get the prison guards to take the letter from her. The military police samurai were wary about coming within an arm's reach of the Special Forces commander. Even food and drink were literally delivered with a six foot pole. The MPs were generally more skilled in disarming techniques and hand-to-hand combat than the average samurai; it was a job requirement. But even these feared samurai were not taking their chances with the deadly commando.

After her message was sent to Yaeko, Haruko wrote her two _kouhai_ a letter asking them to go to the orphanage in Sai'an and bring Kazumi to Mount Kei'an, as Mizuho would have done if she had lived. Big Sister reminded them to take good care of themselves and Sensei.

Then Haruko wrote another message to Sensei telling the old woman she was sorry for the disgrace she caused, but she had no choice. The 8-year Great War veteran wrote a third letter to Aiko, the mikumari of Kaneda Village. It read, "Dear friend, I know you were leery of my choice to join the Confederated Army and fight in the Great War. You did not believe that it was possible for a truly noble and humane soldier to exist. I guess I have proven your point. But know that while I did wrong some samurai, I have never exploited any peasants, if that thought gives you any comfort."

None of these letters were intended to be delivered until after she was dead. Yaeko would deliver them for her, or so she hoped.

Major Tashiro waited in her cell, but Yaeko did not come. Did the message even reach the ninja woman?

--

_Ten days later, in the military shrine of Tenji…_

"Well, Father and Mother, I will meet you soon. I hope you will not be too ashamed of me." the tall samurai thought as she knelt in the courtyard in the presence of the five military police officers who would witness her self-annihilation. The mannish woman was wearing the white – the color of death. Beside her lay the twin swords Butenma and Hitenma in their dark blue scabbards.

Four military police samurai sat in each corner of the courtyard as witnesses to the ritual suicide. A fifth military police officer, the oldest of them, sat on a raised wooden platform, presiding over the ritual. Next to the condemned soldier was a ninja captain. This 'suicide assistant' drew his sword rather reluctantly at a signal from the presiding officer.

"Is it already time?" the broad-shouldered woman addressed Captain Kouta when she saw the shadow of the sword fall on the ground before her. "I was hoping to see Lieutenant Yaegiri one last time, but I guess she is late in coming. I want her to take my swords to someone. And I have letters that I hope she can deliver for me. But I suppose we should not dishonor our honorable witnesses by delaying further." With those words, the samurai removed four letters from her sleeve and placed them on the ground beside her.

"I am sorry I had to testify against you, Commander," her former subordinate said sorrowfully.

"You did the right thing, friend," the tall samurai replied. "I do not hold it against you. There was no need to add wrong upon wrong."

"I will personally deliver your swords and letters to Yaegiri-dono," the black-clad shinobi responded.

"Thank you, Kouta-dono," Haruko answered calmly. Then the kneeling samurai picked up Hitenma. The trusty blade that had slain countless foes would now be turned on herself.

--

But Major Tashiro Haruko had misjudged Ayame. The golden-eyed warrior was outside the walls enclosing Tenji Shrine, her twin swords drawn and pointed at the sentries.

"Do not hinder me!" the dark woman was shouting at the samurai guards blocking her way with spears, "I have no wish to kill any of you!"

Third Sister had made the journey to the execution site alone, without even telling Kyuuzou that Big Sister had been charged and sentenced. The young woman knew she was going to almost certain death, and she did not want her _kouhai_ to join her fate.

As the dreadlocked samurai prepared to attack the shrine sentries, she heard a shout.

"Lieutenant Ayame of the 43rd Battalion, stand down!"

Ayame turned in the direction of the voice and saw Lieutenant Yaeko, aide to Major Tashiro, galloping up to Tenji Shrine on a fast turtle that looked ready to drop dead.

"What Lieutenant Ayame?!! I'm Captain now, damn it!" the dark-haired woman shouted at the new arrival, as if her new rank would make any difference to the situation. Was Yaeko trying to stop her? Ayame scanned her surroundings to reevaluate which of her opponents to smite first. Cutting down the military police sentries was one thing – but what if the deadly commando Yaeko got in her way?

The ninja vaulted off her fast turtle and rushed towards Ayame. The samurai stood her ground.

It had been said by some of the highest-ranking samurai: "The ninjas are assassins, not warriors. Sword fighting is mere child's play to them. And as for the deadliest ninjas, they are more demon than human."

The outcome of a duel between two demons was not certain. Would there be enough time to save Haruko?

--

_Within the shrine…_

"You have a choice between the standard seppuku ritual or the Southlander manner of suicide." The presiding officer sitting on the wooden platform announced impassively.

"I never knew the Army has so much cultural sensitivity when it comes to matters of ritual suicide," the mannish samurai kneeling in the courtyard replied with a hint of mirth in her voice. "Very well, I will choose the tradition of my forbears."

The tall pale-skinned samurai unsheathed Hitenma and raised the naked blade to her neck. "By the way," Haruko smirked as she spoke to the ninja standing next to her. "You can sheath your sword. I should be able to finish the technique without help."

"Of course, sir. Forgive my presumptuousness," Kouta answered as he sheathed his blade. The five watching military police officers frowned. With Captain Kouta's cooperation, the Special Forces commander could attack them and make an escape attempt if she wanted to.

But Tashiro Haruko had no such intention. The thirty-five year old samurai took a deep breath as she pressed the sword to her skin. One long, clean swipe and it would be done. The samurai wondered if the sound of her own breath would be the last sound she would hear in the land of the living, or the sound of blood bubbling in her severed windpipe.

Major Tashiro was never one to waver in the face of duty or hesitate when the course ahead was clear. But at that moment, the vision of a smiling peasant woman danced before the condemned soldier's eyes, her long turquoise hair blowing in the wind. The samurai felt a sudden, unexpected twinge of reluctance at leaving this world. "Why her? Why now?" the broad-shouldered warrior asked herself silently. But there was no other way.

"Forgive me, Aiko," the former commander whispered as she tightened her grip on the hilt of the sword.

At that very moment, a desperate shout flew through the air. "Stay the blade!!!" The cry seemed to come from the sky.

All those present raised their heads in the direction of the shout. A black-clad ninja was standing on the eastern roof of the square compound enclosing the courtyard. It was Yaeko, waving a scroll in her hand.

At that same time, the courtyard doors flew open. Ayame charged onto the execution site with two shrine guards trailing her. "Stop the execution!" the golden-eyed samurai screamed at the top of her lungs.

"I have a letter of pardon from the Taisho for Major Tashiro!" Yaeko shouted as she flew off the roof to land lightly on the ground in front of the presiding samurai officer. The kunoichi got down on bended knee and offered up the scroll with both hands. It was sealed with the general's seal. A shrine guard took the letter from the ninja woman and delivered it to the elderly samurai police officer presiding over the suicide ritual.

The old officer opened the scroll and read, "In the light of her past honorable record and her valor in battle, as well as her key role in bringing us the decisive victory that ended this long conflict, Major Tashiro's death sentence has been reduced. Instead, Tashiro Haruko will be dismissed from the Confederated Army and from the Kurume Clan. Major Tashiro's status is hereby reduced to 'commoner'."

"Very well," the presiding officer said. "Release the prisoner."

Kouta felt as though he could weep for relief.

--

"I owe you my life, Yaeko-dono," the tall former samurai bowed low before the tough, sinewy frame of the ninja commando as the three women and Kouta stood together in the outer court of the shrine.

"Don't thank me," Yaeko grinned. "You saved my life, so we're even. I'm sorry I took so long."

"You weren't late, so there's no need to apologize," Haruko smiled charmingly. "By the way, how did you get that letter?"

The kunoichi explained. "Colonel Yamane did not want you to be executed. But officially, commanders have no power to influence the military tribunal's decisions, so he pleaded with the Taisho behind the scenes. The General has the right to modify the decision of the military court, though such a power is only meant to be exercised under exceptional circumstances. I thought your case should qualify."

"So the Taisho listened to Colonel Yamane?" Ayame asked.

Yaeko turned to the dark woman. "No, things did not go quite so smoothly. The General told the Colonel that he understood how we felt. But since the court went by the book and did not act with impropriety, the Taisho was unwilling to intervene. The ninjas were upset. Some of us felt that Major Tashiro and by implication the rest of us were used to win the war, and then discarded when no longer needed. Tomoko wanted to conduct a jailbreak operation and free our commander. But I suspected the Major would not have agreed to leave with us even if we succeeded in reaching her cell. So I suggested that we get 'extra leverage' from another source."

"Extra leverage?" asked Haruko.

Yaeko looked up and smiled at the tall ex-samurai. "I was late because I rode to Nankai Prefecture to seek your daimyo. Your clan members were very touchy about letting random people speak to Lord Ueda, so I sought an audience by dropping in through the ceiling of the lord's castle."

Haruko bowed to the ninja woman. "I sincerely apologize for causing you to go through all that trouble." The mannish former samurai said suavely.

"Don't mention it," Yaeko winked. "The governor was surprised, but I assured him that I was not there as an assassin and he graciously granted me an audience. I told your daimyo everything about your case. Lord Ueda, his chamberlain and his bodyguards rushed back here with me to see the Taisho. On the return trip, members of the ninja team were standing by with fresh fast turtles at every checkpoint to change our mounts and speed our pace. Colonel Yamane gave us special passes so that no samurai could hinder us. You should thank both Colonel Yamane and Governor Ueda. Their combined appeals finally moved the General and your sentence was reduced."

"I will pay my deepest respects to Colonel Yamane and my former daimyo before I return to Mount Kei'an," Haruko nodded as the three female fighters walked out of the shrine together with the ninja captain trailing behind them.

"How did you know I was charged and condemned?" the former major asked Ayame as Third Sister fell into step beside her.

"The female samurai gossip grapevine, starting with the court clerk Sawa." Ayame replied as she clung to the tall soldier's arm in an unusual display of affection. "I am so angry you did not tell me something as important as this. How could you not inform me and Kyuuzou?!!"

Big Sister shrugged.

"What's done is done. All's well now, so let's not talk about the past." The kunoichi cut in. Yaeko's nerves of steel were still slightly frazzled by the close encounter with death. Tomoko, and not to mention the rest of the commandos, would never forgive her if she had been even a second too late.

Ayame shot the ninja woman an annoyed look but she changed the topic. The topaz-eyed beauty addressed the handsome dark-haired ex-samurai once more. "Now can I read the letter you wrote to me and Kyuuzou?"

"No," Big Sister replied firmly. "They were only meant to be read after my execution, and since I'm not dead, they no longer have any meaning."

Ayame pouted. But in truth, she was very, very happy.

"So, how are you going to celebrate this new lease on life?" Yaeko asked her former commander as the four soldiers walked down the sandy path leading away from the military shrine.

Before Haruko could answer, Ayame quipped, "Just don't say the words 'Peony Pavilion'."

Kouta choked back a snicker. Then the male ninja and all three women burst out laughing at the same time. It was a sound of relief, of thankfulness in being alive, of joy in friendship, and of so much more.

"Well, since Heaven has spared my undeserving life, maybe I should start living clean for a change," the tall mannish woman smirked. "Perhaps I'll finally be a good role model for little Kyuuzou, but he's too old to need a role model now."

Then her expression became more serious as she turned to Yaeko. "I am most grateful to have courageous comrades who would take such risks for me. My first priority should be to personally thank our brave ninja unit for holding me in their hearts!"

"Come with me then, Commander," the kunoichi replied with a broad smile. "Our team is awaiting our good news."

"_Ex_-commander, my friend," Haruko flashed her a grin.

"Well," Ayame spoke once more, "Maybe our first priority should be to get you to change out of this distasteful white robe that only corpses should be wearing!"

"As you wish, my dear little sister," Haruko answered as the four warriors born of different classes walked together under a cloudless sky. It was a gorgeous afternoon. They could see the range of the Blue Mountains in the far distance, majestic and beautiful. It was one of those days when you thought you could see forever. And there was no more war.

To the samurai's daughter, the merchant's daughter, the kunoichi and the ninja, the sky never felt so blue nor the breeze so free. This was life!

--

A good ways down the road, a ninja woman wearing an eye patch was perched in tall pine tree, her one living eye scanning the distance. All of a sudden, to the surprise of her black-clad comrades lurking in the woods below, the kunoichi broke into song:

_If my spirit can  
__Fly the skies forever  
__It is only  
__Because you've always been my wings_

_And as long as we  
__Walk this road together  
__I will never feel forlorn  
__For winter will be gone_

_And spring will bring  
__With it wondrous things…_

"I never knew Tomohiro-dono could sing." Shinobi hacker Kiseki chuckled in the shadows of the forest as he met the eyes of the ninjas standing around him.

Usually, it was the younger who followed the elder, but this time, it was the youngest ninja Omitsu who started screaming with joy first. "We did it!" the teenager shouted. Then the whole shinobi team followed Omitsu's lead, cheering wildly in a most un-ninja-like fashion. "WE did it!!!"

They knew exactly why Tomoko was singing a song of friendship, of teamwork and of hope.

--

That same evening, in Akashima Province, a weary traveler with unkempt long hair walked towards a blood red sunset. The disheveled man who would have been handsome under different circumstances wandered through the makeshift graveyard that lay in the shadows of the burnt Reiji Castle. There were no tombstones here, only gravesites marked with swords until the families of the deceased could collect the corpses. Those of the dead who had still-living kin might be fortunate enough to receive a proper funeral.

It was a strange sight that lay before the eyes of this homecoming warrior - swords sticking out of the earth for nearly as far as the eye could see, like bizarre flower stalks in a huge garden of the dead. Kanbei suspected many of these hurriedly buried samurai would remain nameless forever. The majority of his clan members had died in combat as the Confederated Army swept through Akashima Province on their way for conquer the rest of the West Sector. Entire families had fallen in battle.

The dark man's despairing eyes scanned this bleak landscape, searching for the swords of his father and his mother, fearing to see them, and yet fearing to not find them.

"Kanbei-dono! Is that you?" A familiar voice called out. The 35-year-old Allied commander turned in the direction of the sound to see a familiar figure – Hasegawa Masao of the Akashima Provincial Army – walking towards him. The man who would have been his brother-in-law if life had been kinder. But perhaps it was better that he and Chihiro did not wed. Perhaps it was better that she died young. Any happiness they might have shared together would probably have come to an end by now.

Kanbei pushed his despairing thoughts away and strode towards the ebony-skinned samurai with pale blue hair.

No words could describe how it felt to see the face of a friend in the garden of death. The two men embraced in relief and grief, but other emotions burned within Kanbei's heart. Shame. Guilt. He had failed – failed to do his duty of protecting this land. Even if Akashima had not been his home province, he would still have grieved. Masao would not be standing here in the garden of the dead if the Allied Forces had been able to come to Akashima's aid.

"Are you looking for your parents?" Masao finally said the dreaded words. "I buried them, and your uncle too. I recognized their corpses from the sword scabbards they carried. They lie close to where my parents lie. Our governor is dead too, but I'm sure you know that already."

Kanbei's jaw trembled imperceptibly but his voice was even when he addressed Masao, "Thank you for taking care of my family.'

"Don't mention it," his friend replied with a small, sad smile. Then Masao led Kanbei on a meandering path through the haphazard grave sites. They came to a halt before three mounds of earth. On each mound of earth was stuck a familiar sword. His mother's, his father's and his father's older brother's. In the light of the setting sun, these three swords serving as grave markers cast strange, long shadows on the ground before Kanbei's feet.

The once-mighty commander fell to his knees. For a while he knelt in silence, then he bowed his head to the ground three times before the graves.

"Where is my aunt?" Kanbei finally asked when he rose to his feet.

"There were some bodies we could not identify – they were charred beyond recognition and were not accompanied by identifiable weapons." the homecoming samurai heard Masao say the brutal words. "Of the roughly 800 people who perished in the castle, we managed to identify 335. Fortunately your parents had their scabbards and swords lying close by. So I knew that it was them. And if the thought is any comfort to you, I believe that most of those who died in the castle had already been killed in combat before the castle was set on fire."

Kanbei did not respond. In a way, he was glad that someone other than himself buried his father and mother. He did not know if he would be able to bear the sight that Masao saw.

After a long silence, Hasegawa Masao spoke once more. "I am very sorry about your family."

"I am truly sorry for your loss too," Kanbei replied.

"Well, at least my father and mother died fighting," the other man sighed. "I am ashamed to have lived. But I was not in the castle then. I was defending Seikawa Town. My company might have been exterminated too. But the Confederated Army battalion moved on once they were certain we no longer had the numbers or the infrastructure to be a threat. I guess they were in a hurry to rendezvous with other Confederated battalions heading west."

Standing in the soft light of the setting sun, the tall, slender warrior paused as if waiting for unhappy memories to run their course. Then he spoke to Kanbei once more, "It is all over now. The Allied Provinces lost. The shogun is defeated. The Great War is over. By the way, what exactly happened to the Allied Air Force 2nd Regiment? The daimyo's chamberlain's son – that boy who joined your regiment and mechanized - came back last week. Akanemaru told us that Irakawa Castle was blown up and presumably everyone within died except for a few mecha. But it seems that he was wrong. You survived."

Masao gave his friend a small smile.

Kanbei's dead eyes lit up at the news that some of his Allied Forces samurai had survived. "Where is Akanemaru now?" the Allied commander asked with the barest hint of hope in his voice. "I would like to speak with him."

"He left," Hasegawa Masao sighed. "Akanemaru-kun came to Reiji Castle to look for his mother and father but we could not find Sir Retsudo and Lady Shiranui among the known dead. They were probably among the unidentifiable charred corpses left after the Feddies burnt the place. I never thought I would ever hear a Raiden weep, but he wept for a long, long time. Ah, such a heartbreaking sound. Then, without a word, he flew away. I don't know where he went."

"Oh," the former Colonel Shimada responded dumbly as the dull pain in his heart started to throb once more. He did not know what else to say.

Masao looked at the unhappy Kanbei sympathetically, but Kanbei's tortured mind imagined that his friend was accusing him with those pale blue eyes. The paranoid accusations crowded Shimada's consciousness. "Why did you not come to our aid? It is YOUR fault Akashima fell. It is YOUR fault the Allies lost. It is YOUR fault our parents perished. It is YOUR fault our daimyo died. It is YOUR fault Akanemaru cried."

Now Kanbei was feeling like the most defeated man in the universe, cheated by the cunning strategists of the Confederated Army into losing honor, friends, family and homeland, just about everything a man could hold dear.

"And you will still be the loser…" The words of the enemy kunoichi echoed mockingly in his mind, repeating and amplifying themselves to the point Shimada Kanbei felt he was going mad. "Loser… loser… LOSER."

Yet, despite his agony, the former commander could not find it in his heart to fully hate the enemy. He knew they were just doing their duty, as he was doing his. And he knew, as they knew, that the Art of War was the Art of Deception.

* * *

**Author's Comments:**

_- Seppuku _(ritual disembowelment) was usually performed with a short sword (wakizashi) or a specialized knife in later time periods. But _seppuku_ (literally "abdomen cutting") was commonly reserved for male warriors. Ritual suicide by a woman of the samurai class was performed by cutting the throat with the _kaiken_ (dagger) and termed _jigai_, literally "self harm". She would first tie her feet together so that her body would not be found in an undignified posture, whatever the agony of her death throes. (_Secrets of the Samurai_, Ratti/Westbrook) Tashiro Haruko chooses neither procedure. Because Haruko is from the Southlands (an imaginary geographical/cultural region I created for the Retribution universe), where the suicide tradition is different (no gender-specific suicide procedures, for starters), she opts to use a regular sword instead of the wakizashi or kaiken. The presiding officers don't even give her the _jigai_ with kaiken option since they don't regard her as a woman.

- Samurai men, have however, taken their lives by piercing the throat with a dagger (e.g. the suicide of the famous archer Yorozu, vassal of the Mononobe clan) or by committing seppuku with the katana instead of the short sword or dagger. (I guess in desperate times, one can't be too picky about procedure.)

- I'm making up different traditions for the four cultural/geographical regions of the Retribution universe. So not every cultural reference in my story is Japanese-based.

- Haruko's swords' names – _Butenma_ and _Hitenma_ – mean "Demon who Dances in the Sky" and "Demon who Flies the Sky"

- According to _Secrets of the Samurai_, demotion of class/rank was one of the punishments meted out for "minor crimes", so Haruko essentially got away with a slap on the wrist for murder.

- Historically, samurai clans and the shogunate had military police – a special class of samurai with authority to police not just commoners, but other samurai. (Source: _Secrets of the Samurai_ by Ratti/Westbrook) Samurai clans also had military tribunals to try clan members accused of offences.

- The Peony Pavilion remark references companion fic Wolf Warriors chapter 'Fallen Hero.'

- In Haruko and Yaeko's dialogue, the commando women are now referred to by their true names, i.e. Yaeko and Tomoko, instead of their masculine working names Yaegiri and Tomohiro, because they are no longer in a 'work' context. Major Tashiro is no longer their commander.

- Tomoko's song can be sung to the tune of Last Exile's closing theme, which also has a reference to flying and being someone's wings.

- The line about ninjas not being bushi (that is, they are not warriors like samurai) but rather spies or demons was inspired by a similar line in the Basilisk anime.

- Masao first appears in companion fic One Life, One Love.

- Kanbei repeats the gesture that 10 year old Kyuuzou performed in the first chapter of Unforgiven. (The prequel to the prequel to the prequel of this story :-)


	10. Cruel Awakening

**Synopsis:** Heihachi has never quite realized the full impact of his 'betrayal' until he encounters a strange samurai in Iyashi no Sato… 

**Notes:**

- In this ficverse, the terms _state, province_, and_ prefecture_ are used interchangeably. The prefectures are the states on the Emperor's side. The provinces are the states on the shogun's side.

- _anata _- one version of 'you' (could be used to address a friend/peer, also used by a wife to address a husband)

* * *

The Confederated Army released the prisoners-of-war a few weeks after the official end of the Great War. But Hayashida Heihachi did not return to his home province of Totsuda. He could not bring himself to face his clan. Two and a half years ago, the Shirobusa clan sent 16 year old Heihachi to the Allied Forces as part of their troop contribution. The young Hayashida had wanted to do his clan proud by being the best Allied soldier he could be. After all, a Shirobusa samurai, regardless of his rank, was representing his clan in the combined army. 

"But I turned out to be a weak link," the young veteran had thought bitterly as he took the east road towards Kougakyo. "I betrayed the Allies and in doing so, shamed my clan. I can't possibly go home."

Heihachi headed towards Kougakyo at the border of Gokyo State because it was far enough from Totsuda, and yet not so far away that the journey would exhaust the war veteran's meager resources. Once there, the young man wasted no time in looking for work. He needed food – and shelter. And that meant he needed money.

The odd jobs did not bring in much – between room and board, sometimes the boy had to forgo one for the other. Heihachi scraped by from day to day. It was almost a year after he came to the city when a mecha repair shop owner told him of the city's Entertainment District. "Governor Ayamaro declared Iyashi no Sato a semi-autonomous tax-free zone 10 years ago. The employers there generally pass the tax savings on to their employees by paying a higher wage than the rest of the city. Even day laborers get a higher hourly rate. You might want to try your luck there."

His young heart filled with hope, Heihachi made his way down to the lowest level of the bustling metropolis first thing the next morning. The day was off to a good start. Within an hour of arriving in Iyashi no Sato, he saw a "Help Wanted" sign in the window of a home appliance repair shop. The mechanic went in, introduced himself, and was offered a fair wage for a day's labor. The boy worked hard and well under the piercing scrutiny of the elderly proprietor, putting one machine after another into good working order.

After four hours, the old woman said to him, "Well, young man, you've done exceedingly well. You've actually cleared our entire backlog of work items. I don't have any more work for you today, but since you did in half a day what others would take a whole day to do, here's your full day's pay. Go buy yourself lunch."

The boy thanked her.

"Come back against next week." The old businesswoman said. "Maybe we'll have more work for you then."

"I am in your debt," the samurai boy replied. "Where's the nearest place I can find cheap food, by the way?"

The shop owner responded. "Take a left on the main road. Keep walking until you come to the Maple Street intersection, you'll see a park on the left and a food street on the right. Plenty of stalls. Cheap and good street food."

--

"The repair shop owner was right. The food here is cheap and delicious." Heihachi thought as he walked between the outdoor food stalls on Maple Street, savoring the rice ball he held in his right hand. In his left hand the samurai held a leaf-wrapped package of five other rice balls. "I should find a place to sit down and finish the rest of the rice balls. Maybe I'll cross the main street and go to the park."

At that thought, the boy headed for the Maple Street Park. Heihachi wandered down the sandy path cutting through the park. At some point, he came across a small maze crafted from landscaped azalea bushes of about waist-height. The maze was roughly 30 feet in diameter. It had four entrances – one facing each of the four directions. The small redhead stopped and eyed this curiosity. He approached the east entrance of the maze.

In the center of this azalea maze was a large maple tree. The young samurai amused himself by treading his way through the maze - which was easy since he could see the path that he was taking. Once Heihachi reached the center of the bushy maze, he sat himself down against the trunk of the maple tree, facing north.

The young ronin unwrapped his rice ball package and slowly worked his way through another two the remaining five rice balls. Now he was very full, and the sun was warm, but not too hot. And the big, beautiful tree was shading him.

"I like Iyashi no Sato. The higher levels of the city have no earth, no greenery. How wonderful it is to feel the earth under my feet!" Hayashida said to himself as he felt drowsiness creep up on him. "This is a good day. I can't remember the last time I had a good day…Ah! The simple pleasures that life has to offer!"

The young samurai mechanic smiled for the first time in many months. "Maybe I'll take a nap. I'll eat the remaining three rice balls when I awake." At that thought, the young samurai drifted into sleep against the solid tree trunk.

Heihachi did not know how long he had been asleep when he heard disembodied voices. A man and a woman were talking in his dream.

"Boss, it is most kind of you to bring me to this beautiful place," the man said. "I am sorry to have taken you away from your work."

"Shichiroji," a woman laughed. "It's been almost a year since you came to me, and you still haven't realized that the House of the Fireflies is not run like the military and I am NOT a samurai commander. Here, in Iyashi no Sato, the pace of life is slower. We know how to take time off to enjoy what our surroundings have to offer. I don't treat my employees like soldiers. They are entertainers."

"I'm sorry, Yukino-san…" the man spoke again.

"Please stop apologizing," the woman answered kindly. "You did not do anything wrong."

At that sentence, Heihachi awoke. The two voices continued their conversation.

"Shichiroji," the woman's voice said. "I may be overstepping my limits by saying this, but I am worried about you. In the course of a day, you've reverted to the person you were when I first found you – the traumatized, paranoid samurai. Forgive me for being blunt, but it's almost as if you despise yourself and see yourself as undeserving of the simple pleasures that life has to offer!"

"Maybe I am undeserving," Heihachi heard the man sigh.

Heihachi now realized that what he overheard and was overhearing was not a dream. There were two people some distance away engaged in a private conversation. He could not see them because the maple tree stood between Heihachi and the unseen speakers. The youth thought of peeking round the tree so he could see what the couple looked like, but he held himself back.

"Would you not tell me why you think so lowly of yourself?" the woman addressed as Yukino-san asked in a concerned voice. "Over the last few months, you've become much happier, so I thought you had recovered from the sorrow of the war – until two days ago. Does your current mood have anything to do with the man we ran into on Peach Street the day before yesterday? Hideki? Is that his name? Did he upset you?"

"No, no," The man addressed as Shichiroji explained anxiously. "Hideki-dono did not upset me! He is a friend. A long lost friend. In fact, Hideki-dono was my war buddy. I thought he was dead. So I am very, very happy to have met him again."

"But you did not seem at all happy when you came back after having a drink with him." The woman persisted.

The man answered defensively. "Hideki and I were just rehashing old war tales, that's all…."

"You never told me about any of your experiences during the war, and I never thought it was my place to ask…," the woman responded kindly, "but if your memories bring you so much grief, might it not be better to leave them behind? Or if the opposite is true – if it brings you relief to speak about them to someone, I am always ready to be a listening ear. I am not a samurai, and maybe I cannot understand what you've been through. But perhaps I am also someone who will not judge your actions as a samurai."

The man heaved a long, sorrowful sigh.

"Another unhappy, guilt-ridden war veteran like myself?" the eavesdropping redhead thought. Now Heihachi could no longer contain his curiosity. He slowly peered around the tree and saw a couple standing near the south entrance of the low maze. Their backs were to him. He could not see their faces but he could see that the man was a slim blond in a loose purple jacket. The woman was shorter than the man; she had coiffed black hair and wore a maroon kimono.

"If you're ever ready to talk, I'm here to listen," the pale-skinned woman spoke in a warm, gentle voice that reminded Heihachi of his late mother.

There was a short moment of silence. Heihachi saw the woman take the man's hand. Then without warning, the man made a strange choking sound, as if he was trying to contain his agony.

"Shichiroji-dono!" the woman exclaimed.

--

Shichiroji let the floodgate of his words open before he could give in to the indignity of letting himself weep in public and in front of his employer at that.

"Hideki-dono told me our friend Shinji-dono died! Captain Hideki did not find anyone left alive! He thought he heard voices when he was trapped in the collapsed castle, but by the time he clawed his way out of the ruins, he could not see anyone alive! Hideki thinks maybe some of our mecha samurai survived and buried some of the dead because he saw what appeared to be fresh graves near the castle. But those survivors must have left long before Hideki wriggled his way out of the rubble. We don't even know if our commander lived! Knowing Colonel Shimada, he must have gone back to save everyone and died with them! If only he had let me die and saved the others instead! But he chose to save me first! It is all my fault! If only I had been more guarded and not let that ninja disable me!"

"What?" Yukino was surprised at the sudden outburst. She did not know what Shichiroji was talking about. "Tell me how this came to pass!"

Shichiroji let his speech run on and on, distracting his mind from long-denied emotions.

"Confederated Army commandos infiltrated my base! It should have been the most secured castle! No Feddie could approach it without being shot down. But the enemy flew into the castle riding in the cargo compartment of my Raiden comrade Takeo. Takeo went out on a mission and somehow he came back with a bunch of ninja hitchhikers! Only it wasn't Takeo anymore. The enemy ripped his brain out and took over his shell! I don't know how they managed to gain control of his body! They could not have transplanted one of their own soldier's brains into his unit. It would take days for a human brain to fully integrate into a mecha body! So the Feddies must have somehow hacked into the default operating system used to direct a soulless mecha."

Hidden behind the tree, Heihachi felt his heart leap into his mouth.

The blond continued in an agitated voice. "Our foes tricked us using the voice of Takeo. We were misled into expecting an air raid when the Feddie commandos were already inside our castle! Thus, no one was on their guard against the enemy within! I only started to realize what happened when I went to the hangar to debrief Takeo and found a room full of dead mechanics. Then one of the enemy ninjas captured me and mangled my arm – she tried to force me to take her to the command center but I would not betray my commander and my comrades!"

A heavy pain began to fill Heihachi's chest.

"The enemy commando would have killed me then, and I would rather that she did!" the strange blond samurai spoke in anguish. Heihachi clutched at his chest in agony as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Why do you say that?" Yukino asked her companion in a shocked voice.

"Because I was used as leverage against my commander." Shichiroji said vehemently. "The Colonel intervened to stop the ninja from slaying me. His focus on saving me gave the enemy commander a chance to sneak up on him and hold him at sword point. That son-of-a-bitch Confederated Army samurai said they were blowing up the castle! We had less than 20 minutes to escape before the base would be destroyed from within!"

The innkeeper squeezed the samurai's hand comfortingly as he went on. "The enemy commander bargained with Kanbei-sama to trade my life for the kunoichi's. My leader agreed, and the kunoichi released me – but not before she underhandedly cut my leg to cripple me. Seeing that I would bleed to death and could not escape without help, my commander took me down to the river level of the castle and put me in an escape pod. All the time he spent helping me escape, he could have saved other more deserving samurai like Hideki and Shinji! If I was already dead, Kanbei-sama would not have to make that choice. I suspect the enemy injured me to use my commander's compassionate nature against him and limit his choices."

"I am sorry!" Behind the tree, Heihachi mouthed the words silently as he squeezed his eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling. "I am so sorry!"

His fellow Allied Forces veteran continued the tale. "I was floating in the pod towards the castle's waterway exit when the bombs exploded and the castle fell around me. That day was the last time I saw Hideki-dono before this week. I lost consciousness and knew nothing more until I opened my eyes and saw you."

Yukino squeezed Shichiroji's hand lightly. "There's something good in all of this," she said comfortingly. "You survived. Hideki-dono survived. Those are miracles in themselves. And it is a miracle that two of you have met again."

"Yes, indeed." The man spoke once more. "Perhaps it is fated that he and I have found each other again. Neither Hideki nor I grasped the full picture of what happened to our regiment until we sat down together and talked. Up to two days ago, he had no idea of how the Feddies managed to launch such a devastating attack on our castle. On my part, I did not know much about the aftermath of the attack. But now that we have exchanged stories, the picture is clear."

The blond samurai continued. "Because my regiment - the Second Regiment at Irakawa - was destroyed and the First Regiment in Nakatsu was under attack, there was no one to stop the Feddies when the enemy breached Akashima's borders from the south. The fall of Akashima Province opened the Confederated Army's path to the conquest of the Western States."

Heihachi had not realized the full impact of letting that one password roll off his tongue – until this day. He had caused the death of thousands. Perhaps even tens of thousands. This was no longer a good day.

"I already heard rumors that most, if not all of the three thousand samurai in Irakawa Castle had perished," the blue-eyed man said to the woman, "I thought I had come to terms with it. After all, we were samurai; life being cut short was part of our collective destiny. But I never realized it would hurt so much when I saw Hideki again and he gave me an eyewitness account of how our base was leveled and practically everybody died. Sometimes I feel like I had already died in Irakawa Castle."

"Oh Shichiroji!" Yukino exclaimed.

"We did not just lose a regiment and a castle. We lost the war. I feel it was partly my fault." The man said dully.

"No, it was not your fault! It was my fault!" the eavesdropping redhead moved his lips in an agonized whisper as the tears finally fell from his eyes.

"No, it was NOT your fault!" Yukino declared to Shichiroji as she held her employee's gaze.

At that moment, Shichiroji glanced away from her towards the maple tree and said abruptly, "Did you hear that?!"

"Hear what?" the innkeeper asked.

"The sound of someone crying." The samurai's blue eyes narrowed slightly. "I think it's coming from behind that tree in the middle of the maze."

"I think I hear it!" Yukino whispered as she too turned in the direction of the big maple tree. "A choking, wailing sound, right? It might be a cat. Sometimes cats make human-like sounds."

"I'll go take a look!" the blond said, grateful for the distraction.

"Anata, maybe we should not…" the dark-eyed innkeeper protested but she followed after Shichiroji as the blond quickly made his way through the maze The samurai held his walking stick in front of him as a precautionary measure when he approached the center of the maze where the big tree stood. Yukino followed his lead and rounded the wide trunk cautiously. There was no one on the other side. But the man and the woman saw in the hollow of the tree's roots three abandoned rice balls sitting in a lotus leaf wrapper.

* * *

**Author's Comments:**

Heihachi escaped through the other end of the maze. He was crawling so that Yukino and Shichiroji could not see him.

"I suspect the enemy injured me to use my commander's compassion against him and limit his choices." Shichiroji is probably right when he said that. Haruko and Yaeko had clear interest in manipulating Kanbei into leave Hangar 4 since the Feddies' ride out of the Allied base was sitting there, and presumably the ninjas had to regroup there to fly out.


	11. Lost

**Synopsis:** Four ronin – both the victors and the vanquished – find themselves in a similar state of mind in the post-war era. 

**Notes:**

- In this ficverse, the terms _state, province_, and_ prefecture_ are used interchangeably. The prefectures are the states on the Emperor's side. The provinces are the states on the shogun's side.

- Rannosuke previously appeared briefly in Chapter 3 "A Soldier's Scruples". He appeared even earlier in the timeline as a human in prequel fic _Edge of Alienation_.

- Akanemaru previously appeared briefly in Chapter 2 "Recovery"

- In the late 12th century, merchants were forbidden to press for repayment of loans made to warriors because the war effort against the Mongols had badly depleted the finances of the samurai clans. (Ratti/Westbrook, _Secrets of the Samurai)_ For this fic, I'm assuming a similar situation in the later years of the Great War.

- I chose to translate the name of the main airborne base of the samurai (later the capital of the Amanushi) as the 'Sky Fortress'. The original name, _tenshukaku_ (literally 'Guardian of the Sky') traditionally referred to the central tower of a castle compound. The central tower was also simply called 'the keep' by the less poetically-minded.

**Vocab:** _kuge_ – court nobles, _akindo_ - merchants

* * *

_Two months after the official end of the Great War…_

The Temple of Heavenly Mercy in Nankai Prefecture had a high open platform where visitors could offer incense to the Heavens. There, they say those with a guilty conscience will feel exposed to the scrutiny of the Sky, while those of pure heart and mind could commune with It. But there are some who believe that the latter type of human is extremely rare, or does not even walk the earth.

A tall ronin in black, with a child of about 10 beside her, walked up the long flight of white-and-gray marble steps leading up to the high platform. They came to a halt at the top of the stairs. The ronin, a mannish broad-shouldered warrior, turned and spoke to the pale child. In response, the dark-haired girl knelt down deferentially next to the smooth marble posts flanking the stairs. Her older companion walked ahead. The warrior with straight blue-black hair approached the great incense burner and lit a stick of sandalwood incense. She bowed once before the heavens before adding her one offering to many hundreds of other incense sticks in the great brass burner.

The former samurai's obsidian eyes silently followed the plume of fragrant smoke as it rose towards the heavens. Then she bowed her head and spoke softly so that the child could not hear her.

"I have done something wrong. Something that cannot be undone. And there were more things I did before that. Deeds done in the name of justice but hidden in darkness. But that is not the worst thing. The worst thing is I would do it all over again if I had to. I see no other way. I did evil so that good may come. No higher insight comes to me. I feel guilt, not repentance."

The former Special Forces commander paused, as if waiting for Heaven's judgment. Then she spoke once more in a pained whisper. "For years, I fought the darkness. Now I'm part of it. I can't go on like this. There is a child following me now. Will I lead her down the same road?"

The war veteran raised her dark eyes to the blindingly bright sky even as she felt the weight of the Heavens bear down on her broad shoulders. Now the 35-year-old who once led the best of the best in the Confederated Army said the words she had not said in 18 years.

"I am lost. Help me."

--

_Six months after the end of the Great War…_

Rannosuke sat alone on the barren hills of eastern Juushuu, soaking in the rain. "The peasants should be rejoicing now," he thought. "The drought has finally ended."

But the Red Spider was not rejoicing. Rannosuke worried about rust. He remembered the time when he had a team of mechanics to pamper him. But that was all in the past. One would think that a victorious veteran should have a warmer homecoming. But that did not come to pass.

The former Confederated Army samurai remembered how he tried to return to his clan and his family. She who gave birth to him, or rather, she who gave birth to his human body, now looked upon him with fear. And the daimyo's seneschals came to him and told him there was no room for him anywhere in the clan's facilities and the stables, parking lots and garages were not big enough to hold him. Was he a fast turtle or a vehicle, that they would think that he belonged in stables and parking garages? Kanou Rannosuke of the Kuroyama Clan could not understand.

Just as Rannosuke was lost in his recollections, he heard the roar of a giant mecha's flight boosters behind him. He recognized that sound – it was not a fellow Red Spider; it was a Raiden of the Allied Forces.

The Confederated Army samurai immediately got to his feet and spun around. A big blue mecha was 300 yards away, flying slowly towards him. The Red Spider drew his giant sword.

"Relax, relax, the war is over!" the Raiden called out as he came closer to Rannosuke's hill. "I'm not here to fight you."

"Then what are you here for?" The Benigumo asked suspiciously.

"Just to chat," the other mecha answered as he landed a polite distance from Rannosuke, at the foot of the Benigumo's hill.

"Chat?" the Feddie veteran said incredulously as he eyed the Raiden standing on a patch of shriveled shrubbery below.

"I'm Akanemaru, formerly of the Aokuma Clan." The pointy-faced giant mecha supplied, opening his metallic palms in a non-threatening gesture.

The former Confederated Army samurai did not return the favor of an introduction to the blue robot. Rannosuke kept his sword pointed at the former Allied Forces soldier. But Akanemaru was undeterred.

"Judging by your accent, you're from Kokuryu State, right? I'm from Akashima State," the Raiden volunteered, looking up at him. "If we're both still human, I'd buy you a drink as a sign of my good will. Now that the war is over, I would like to visit the Confederated States I never had the chance to visit, that is, if I have enough money. I heard the fief of the Kuroyama Clan is a beautiful place. Is that so? I've been to the Northlands, but only the Allied States of Juushuu, Tosa and Nakatsu. The rock hills of Nakatsu are a pretty cool sight though."

The Red Spider stared down at him in sullen silence from the Benigumo's perch on the rocky hill.

"Forgive me for running on and on," Akanemaru gushed as the earth around his feet drank in the much-needed rain. "It's just the nerves. What am I talking about? I no longer have nerves. It's just that I don't know what the future will bring. How long before my backup batteries run out of power? I don't know where to find fresh energy cells. The Allied Forces battery factories were destroyed by your side… Say, I heard rumors that some of the former Feddie battery factories are still operating and that they're now independent of the Confederated Army, so they'll sell energy cells to anyone. Can you tell me where to find one of those factories?"

"If I know where to find a battery factory, I would have gone there myself," Rannosuke finally answered. "The Confederated Army energy cell factory locations have always been top secret. It is rumored there is a factory in the desert south of Kougakyo, but as to exactly where it is in the desert, I don't know. The radioactive batteries were delivered to our bases and regular samurai like me do not know where they came from. I don't have a base anymore. I haven't had a battery change since the end of the war. Why do you think I was just sitting here? I was trying to conserve energy, which I'm now wasting by talking to you!"

"Oh…," the Raiden lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

"Now that he knows that I have no useful information to offer him, he will leave." The Red Spider thought, looking down at the annoying pointy-headed mecha.

But the Raiden did not leave. He was now wasting his own battery power by chattering on. "My Allied Forces regiment was destroyed by your comrades in a sneak attack. Darn, you guys were good. We never saw it coming. Our commander told us to expect an aerial assault from the enemy. I was standing by in my docking cell, ready for battle, waiting for air raid sirens to go off when I heard loud explosions and the floor literally fell away from beneath me! Boy, was I confused! It took me a few moments to realize that the castle was being destroyed from within – not from the sky!"

Rannosuke did not respond.

Akanemaru went on in a rather high-pitched voice. "I managed to blast my way out and fly clear of the crumbling place. When the explosions settled, I flew back down to the base and found about seven other Raiden and two Tobito who survived. But we could not find any of our commanding officers or comrades left alive in the ruins. It was such a sad sight – one corpse after another of both man and machine, some charred, some in pieces. At some point we gave up digging for survivors. I really hated to do that but the fact is, we mecha survivors would have run out of battery power before we recovered the bodies of all three thousand soldiers from the ruins and gave them a burial. So we dug a mass grave for the hundred or so we already found, and left Irakawa Castle behind."

The Benigumo had contributed to the situation Akanemaru was describing. But the Raiden was oblivious to the irony. He rambled on.

"We thought of finding another Allied unit to join so that we could continue fighting, but before we could do that, we heard the news that the shogun had been defeated and the Great War was over. The Allied Forces were no more. So we survivors decided to split up and go back to our state clans. I tried to return to my clan in Akashima but found that my people too had been defeated and scattered. The daimyo's castle was burnt to the ground. I could not find my family. I guess they're dead. I've been wandering around aimlessly since."

The Raiden sighed sorrowfully. Then he turned to the Red Spider. "But you're the victor. Why are you sitting here all alone?"

"Even if Akanemaru had not given his name, I can guess that he is very young." Rannosuke thought as he lowered his giant sword without quite knowing it. "This chatty ronin is so needy, so desperate for companionship. But perhaps so am I…"

At this realization, the rain-soaked Red Spider spoke. "The Confederated Army has been downsized to practically nothing. Now that the war is over, the merchants are hounding the Feddies to pay back the war debt. Even the Sky Fortress and all the factory surplus soulless mecha have been taken away by the merchant bank because they were collateral for the war loan. The Amanushi bought the Sky Fortress at a bargain when the merchant bank liquidated it, I heard. The rumor is he is going to relocate the Capital there. And on the topic of downsizing, we high-maintenance mecha samurai were the first to be dismissed from the Army as part of cost-cutting."

"Such aggressive debt collection from merchants?! How did that happen?" Akanemaru asked in surprise. Both the shogun and the emperor supported laws that prohibited merchants from enforcing payment deadlines on loans made to the military – be it state-based samurai clans or the combined armies.

"Didn't you hear?" his former enemy said almost disgustedly. "Less than a week after the official end of the war, the Amanushi abolished the law that prevented merchants from collecting debts from samurai. Those _akindo_ sharks wasted no time in coming after the samurai clans and the combined army. "

"So that's your reward for fighting so hard to restore the right to rule to the Imperial Court ," the Raiden mused. "Well, it seems that you samurai on the winning side were just tools for the _kuge_ to use and abandon. At least the _shogun_ was one of us. He would always act with the interest of our class in mind."

"I don't entirely blame the Emperor for lifting that law." The Red Spider replied defensively. "He had to reward the merchants for financially supporting the Imperial Court over the course of the war. Now that there are no more battles to be fought, it makes sense for the Amanushi to court the merchants over the samurai. Such are the ways of the politicians."

"Oh…" Akanemaru said. He was a simple soldier and did not like discussing politics. So the Raiden decided to change the topic. "If the Feddies have released you, then why don't you return to your clan?"

"I did," Rannosuke replied, gazing at the gray clouds overhead. "But my state clan does not have the resources to support large mechas. Even if they want to reintegrate returning giant robot veterans, they cannot afford to build the necessary infrastructure. The Kokuryu state government owes massive war debt, as do other samurai clans on the winning side."

As he spoke, the Red Spider took a step down the hill, coming closer to the blue mecha without quite realizing it. But the Raiden showed no reaction and continued listening respectfully to Rannosuke's story. The Confederated Army veteran sighed. "This is a time when even human veterans are dismissed from victorious clans because of clan downsizing and cost-cutting. If there is no work for them, it goes without saying there is no work for me. Outside of the Feddie and Allied bases, we giant war robots do not have much of a chance for survival."

"Saa…." Akanemaru responded as raindrops ran down the lenses of his mechanical eyes. "I didn't know that things were this bad for the clans on the 'winning' side."

"It gets worse than that." His former enemy continued, "At least my former clan survived despite the downsizing and debt. I heard just a week ago that the Nakagawa Clan of Tanba Prefecture lost their entire fief to the merchants. They missed three payment deadlines on their war debt so the Merchant Bank of Kougakyo has taken away their lands. Tanba Prefecture is now officially under the jurisdiction of the _akindo_-run City Government of Kougakyo. So, without shedding a single drop of blood, the merchants conquered the territory of the samurai. It goes without saying that with no land holdings, the Nakagawa Clan is now officially defunct and has been disbanded."

"That certainly creates many ronin, ne?" Now it was Akanemaru who took a step up the hill, closing the distance between himself and the Red Spider. Rannosuke did not move away. Instead, the Benigumo replied. "You bet. There are many ronin now – both mecha and human - and I suspect there will be more ronin as more fiefdoms are dissolved or downsized to pay off war debt."

The two former foes stood side by side in silence for a while, listening to the raindrops hitting their metallic hulls. Then Akanemaru spoke once more, "I heard a rumor – but don't get your hopes up, because it's just a rumor – that the mecha survivors of the Allied Air Force First Regiment in Nakatsu refused to surrender to the Feddies even after the Confederated Army took the Allied base of Atsuya Castle. The defeated samurai regrouped in one of the floating bases we used on tours of duty over the Northern Front."

The Benigumo turned to look at the Raiden. He had heard of Allied First Regiment's defeat. In fact, some squadrons in his Confederated regiment took part in the assault on Nakatsu. But he did not know until now that the mecha survivors of the Allies held out.

Akanemaru continued, "Now that the war is over, these mecha maintain themselves in this base independent of the rest of the world! Their base has been seen floating around the western part of Juushuu State, I've heard. If they're still running, they must have batteries! Maybe they're not far from us. Let's go find them! Perhaps they'll let us work in return for energy cells. At the very least, they can tell us where to find batteries."

"It might work for you," Rannosuke shrugged his robot shoulders. "But I don't think they'll help me. I am, after all, a former Feddie."

"Hey, Feddies vs Allies is so yesterday," Akanemaru said. "Now the priority is for us mecha to group together for survival. I'm sure my former comrades will understand. If not, I'll talk them into it. I'm a good talker, trust me."

Young Akanemaru turned and started floating away towards the west. Then he looked back and saw that Rannosuke was not following him. "What are you waiting for?" The Raiden called out, "Come with me. We _might_ die before we get help, but if you stay here, you _will_ die for sure."

The Red Spider sighed. He glanced at the patch of sun breaking through the clouds in the western sky. Well, he supposed he had nothing to lose.

--

_Three years after the end of the Great War…_

A dark man in white was walking with a weary step, wandering through the streets of that bustling metropolis known as Kougakyo. After the war ended, the former Colonel Shimada decided to wear white – the color of mourning – in memory of all those comrades and kin who died because he had lost so many battles. It had been three years since he stood in the garden of the dead, but the war veteran still felt no inclination to put his white clothes aside for the colors of life.

Then the man who lived in the past heard a voice from the past. "Kanbei-sama, is that you?"

Someone on the other side of the street was calling out to him.

The long-haired wanderer turned to seek the source of the sound. His eyes found Hideki, his subordinate from the Allied Air Force 2nd Regiment, standing in the entryway of a sushi shop front decorated with blue and white wave-patterned curtains. Hideki's face was one of the faces Kanbei feared to see but yet was glad to see. Guilt and joy warred on the defeated commander's face as his former samurai subordinate, now dressed in a waiter's uniform, abandoned his post at the storefront and ran up to Kanbei.

"Hideki-dono!" Kanbei exclaimed, looking into the other man's delighted face. "I thought you died in Irakawa Castle! I tried to come back for you, but…"

Kanbei himself had been trapped between the collapsing walls of the imploding castle as he tried to make his way from the river level back to the command center where his samurai were. But Colonel Shimada was fortunate enough to be standing in a reinforced doorframe at the moment his surroundings crumbled around him. The doorframe formed a pocket of space that saved his life. By the time the commander clawed his way out to the debris, he could see no living soul in sight. Later, Masao had told him that Akanemaru and a few other mecha survived. But Kanbei did not know if any human samurai within the castle had the same luck that he had. Until now.

"Shinji and I waited for you and Shichiroji to return to the command center." Hideki said when he saw the look of disbelieving joy on Kanbei's face, "Even if you had not ordered us to stay, we knew we should not step out because something was clearly very, very wrong in the rest of the castle. Suddenly, we heard loud explosions on the other side of the wall and everything started shaking. We could feel the floor buckling and ourselves falling. I swear the whole command center felt like it was falling through the lower floors of the castle. Something fell on my head and I passed out. When I came around, the ceiling was much lower than I remembered it and the walls were caved in. Then I saw that Shinji was dead. Crushed under a fallen wall."

Kanbei's joy evaporated. The former Colonel closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. It was his fault that a soldier who followed him faithfully had come to such an ignoble end.

"But I'm so glad to see that you're still alive, sir!" Hideki smiled brightly amidst the hustle and bustle of the crowded street.

"Well, I'm not glad that I'm still alive," Kanbei thought. But he did not speak his mind. Instead the 38-year-old veteran said to the other samurai. "I'm very glad to see that you are alive and well too, Hideki-dono."

"Oh, maybe you already know this, but Shichiroji is in Kougakyo too." The former samurai captain gestured downward towards the lower city levels. "I first ran into him two years ago. That was shortly after I came to this city. I've talked to him a couple of times since then. Shichiroji is working as a security guard and odd job man in an inn called the House of the Fireflies. Neither he nor I ever dreamt we'd one day be dependent on members of the lowly merchant class for our rice bowls. But this is life after war for a samurai."

"So, Shichi is still alive. At least not all my efforts have been wasted," Kanbei thanked Heaven in silence. He felt as though a small ray of light had illuminated his darkened soul for a brief moment.

"I'm pleased to know that Shichiroji has survived," Shimada gave a small smile to the former Captain Hideki. "The House of the Fireflies… is that in Iyashi no Sato?"

"Yes, Kanbei-sama, it's near the intersection of Persimmon Street and Orchid Road." Hideki responded. "I'm sure Shichiroji will be overjoyed to see you. He still thinks you are dead. At least that was what he said when I talked to him. You should visit him when you have the chance."

"Yes, I will do that," Kanbei said halfheartedly. Much as Kanbei cared for Shichiroji, he felt ashamed to face his former aide or any of their surviving comrades.

"By the way," the former Colonel said to the samurai-turned-waiter. "Don't tell Shichiroji you saw me. I want to surprise him should I decide to visit the House of the Fireflies."

"Of course, Kanbei-sama," Hideki replied.

"Well, I must be on my way," the dark-skinned samurai said apologetically to his fellow veteran. "I should not keep you from your work."

Hideki was slightly surprised at Kanbei's somewhat distant manner. The waiter was not expecting gushing sentimentality from a former commander, but the usually kind Kanbei seemed rather detached during this unexpected reunion between long-lost comrades.

Shimada turned to leave, heedless of the tempting smells wafting out of the restaurants lining the street, deaf to the calls of welcome from those who worked within, and indeed, blind to the fact that the former Captain Sanou Hideki was bursting with joy to see him.

"Perhaps sir," Hideki spoke to the departing figure of tall dark man, "you can drop by my place of employ sometime and let me buy you dinner…"

Kanbei turned once more to face him, but the only answer Hideki received for his offer was a weak, sad smile. As the waiter met the gaze of the former Colonel, he was struck by the strange look in Kanbei's dark brown eyes. It was a look he had never seen before. His once masterful commander looked, for lack of a better word, lost.

Then Kanbei was gone, walking down the noisy street with the weariness of a man wading through thick mud.

* * *

**Author's Comments:**

- This is my explanation for why Kanbei never sought out Shichiroji in the five years after the war and before S7, despite the fact he knew where Shichiroji was.

- For Kyuuzou's post-Great War ending, see last chapter of Happy Endings and Resurrection chapter of Retribution.

- For how the child came to be in Haruko's care, see Happy Endings Chapter 4.

- When Haruko says, "And there were more things I did before that. Deeds done in the name of justice but hidden in darkness," she is possibly referring to her past life as a vigilante, or to Kyuuzou's vigilante-style killing of surrendered enemy samurai in revenge for the torture-murder of peasants in _Wolf Warriors_. Ayame gave him the order though Kyuuzou would have been more than happy to kill them on his own accord. Kyuuzou and Ayame apparently escaped the consequences for this violation of the warrior code. It is possible that Ayame, being Kyuuzou's direct superior, reported those summary executions as "Allied soldiers killed in action." Or it is possible that their platoon mates and platoon commander at that time (Haruko) covered up for them.

- The context for Haruko saying "I am lost. Help me," will be revealed in the fic Mandate of Heaven. There is a hint about that past incident in Wolf Warriors, when the aged Mikumari of Kaneda Village was speaking to Kanbei.

- Akanemaru was mentioned briefly in Chapter 2 and Chapter 9. He was one of the Raiden under Kanbei's authority. As to why Rannosuke can guess his age from his name, the names ending with _–maru_ are typically used by commoners. Samurai boys may also have a_ something–maru_ name in their childhood. But once boys of the elite classes reach majority, they take a different name. So the fact that Akanemaru is a samurai and has a name ending in _–maru_ hints that he has not yet undergone his coming-of-age ceremony. (which happens between mid teens to early twenties) He is still using his childhood name.

- The floating base Akanemaru mentioned is probably the base of the Nobuseri robbing Aiko's people in companion fic Mandate of Heaven.

- Akanemaru and the mecha survivors probably left the ruins of Irakawa Castle before Kanbei managed to dig his way out. He was on the bottom level, and the Raiden and Tobito didn't dig that far down for. They gave up after they found no survivors in the upper levels.

- In this ficverse, Kanna Village is a part of Tanba Prefecture. In the anime, it seemed odd that Kannamura was apparently under the authority of Ayamaro's government (from Hyogo's line about Kannamura breaching his lord's regulations) and yet Kougakyo's control over it appeared nominal or weak, at best. So I came up with the back story told by Rannosuke – the entire Tanba Prefecture was a new addition to the borders of Ayamaro's realm (which previously only included the independent merchant-run city-state of Kougakyo).


End file.
